a  I  E>  RARY 

OF   THE 

U  N  I  VERSITY 
OF    ILLINOIS 

977.353 


UliAols 


HISTORY 


OIF 


COOm. 


GIVING  A  BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  ITS  SETTLE- 
MENT,  ORGANIZATION,  PHYSICAL 
CHARACTERISTICS  AND 
PROGRESS. 


IB3T 

B.  J.  RADFOKD. 


PEORIA,  ILLS. 
W.  T.  DOWDALL,  PRINTER,  117  MAIJST  STREET. 

18V7. 


°( 7  7,  5S  5 

(I  i 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

DESCRIPTION,  NATURAL  HISTORY  AND  EARLY  SETTLERS.        .     .       7 

CHAPTER  II. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  COUNTY 22 

CHAPTER  III. 
DOMESTIC  AND  SOCIAL  LIFE 29 

CHAPTER  IV. 
AGRICULTURE  AND  FARM  PRODUCTS 40 

CHAPTER  V. 
MANUFACTURES,  TRADE,  &c 50 

CHAPTER  VI. 
POLITICS,  LAW  AND  MEDICINE 67 

CHAPTER  VII. 

EDUCATIONAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  MATTERS.    .     .  67 


PREFACE. 


This  brief  account  of  the  settlements  and  early  life 
in  Wood  ford  County  has  been  prepared  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Old  Settlers'  Association.  The  infor- 
mation has  been  derived  from  many  sources,  and  the 
accounts  have  sometimes  been  vague  and  contradictory, 
but  it  is  believed  that  what  is  here  recorded  is  reliable. 
There  is  no  doubt  much  left  out  of  this  work  which 
ought  to  be  included,  but  it  has  been  impossible  to 
come  at  it.  It  would  be  well  for  all  those  who  are  in 
possession  of  facts  and  incidents,  which  would  be  useful 
in  a  revision  of  this  history,  to  send  them  to  Col.  B.  D. 
Meek,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  for  this  work.  Com- 
pleteness and  accuracy  require  that  such  a  revision 
should  be  made  as  soon  as  it  can  be  done  thoroughly. 

As  before  said,  many  have  aided  in  gathering  up 
what  is  here  included,  but  especial  mention  should  be 
made  of  Dr.  Jas.  S.  Whitmire,  John  Clark,  Dr.  J.  G. 
Zeller,  Dr.  A.  Reynolds,  Aaron  Richardson,  Peter  Yance, 
Winton  Carlock,  John  Summers,  Jas.  G.  Bayneand  Col. 
B.  D.  Meek,  who  have  diligently  assisted  in  hunting  up 
facts  and  incidents. 

May  these  pases  call  up  pleasant  reminiscences  in  the 
minds  of  the  old,  and  stimulate  the  young  to  usefulness 
by  their  examples  and  their  great  successes  in  the  face 
of  difficulties  and  hardships. 

B.  J.  EADFORD. 
EUKEKA,  ILL.,  April  14,  1877. 


HISTORY   OF 
WOODFORD     COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  I. 


DESCRIPTION,  NATURAL  HISTORY  AND  EARLY  SETTLERS. 

Woodford  County  is  ,very  irregular  in  its  boundaries, 
and  the  calculation  of  its  area  is  somewhat  difficult,  but 
it  contains  not  far  from  five  hundred  and  fifty  square 
miles.  I  have,  with  much  care,  calculated  the  geomet- 
ric center  of  the  county  and  find  it  to  be  somewhere  in 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  twenty-two,  in  Roanoke 
township.  The  greater  part  of  the  county  is  prairie, 
the  timber  being  confined  chiefly  to  the  bluffs  and  bot- 
toms along  water-courses.  Much  of  the  original  timber 
has  been  cut  away,  but  compensation  has  partly  been 
made  for  this  by  the  planting  of  groves  and  orchards 
upon  the  prairies.  The  favorite  trees  for  these  groves 
are  black  walnut  and  maple.  Black  locust  promised 
much  at  one  time,  because  of  its  rapid  growth  and  ex- 
cellent and  durable  wood,  but  about  twenty  years*  ago 
it  was  attacked  by  borers  so  vigorously  that  all  the 


8  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 


groves  have  been  destroyed  or  rendered  useless.  The 
timber  is  found  chiefly  in  the  southern  and  western 
portions,  along  the  Mackinaw  and  Illinois  rivers  and 
their  tributaries.  The  other  portions  of  the  county  are 
not  only  destitute  of  forests,  but  also  of  any  considera- 
ble streams.  Water  for  stock  is  usually  obtained  from 
wells,  and  can  generally  be  secured  at  a  depth  varying 
from  twenty  to  fifty  feet,  and  for  a  few  years  past 
pumping  by  wind  power  has  been  becoming  more  and 
more  general.  Many  valuable  sorts  of  timber  are 
natives  of  the  county.  Black,  white,  red  and  burr  oaks 
are  common  ;  some  black  hickory  and  considerable 
white  hickory.  The  black  walnut  and  the  wild  cherry 
furnish  very  beautiful  cabinet  wood,  which  for  beauty 
of  marking,  and  fineness  and  richness  of  luster  are  ex- 
celled by  nothing  I  have  ever  seen  in  our  modern 
furniture  warehouses  ;  the  sugar  maple  also  furnishes  a 
hard,  durable  and  beautiful  cabinet  wood,  as  well  as  the 
ash,  both  of  which  are  found  in  our  forests.  Red  and 
white  elms  are  common.  Among  other  varieties  may 
be  mentioned  cotton-wood,  sycamore,  mulberry,  red-bud, 
crab-apple,  plum,  willow,  hack-berry,  sumac,  hazel, 
dog-wood,  elder,  prickly-ash,  &c.  But  the  greater  part 
of  ihe  county  is  prairie,  arid  when  first  settled  was  des- 
titute of  trees  or  shrubs,  and  was  entirely  occupied  by 
herbaceous  vegetation.  The  chief  part  of  this  was  grass, 
of  a  coarse  sort,  which  went  under  the  common  names 
of  prairie  grass  and  slough  grass.  These  were  of  vig- 
orous growths,  the  culms,  or  flowering  stalks,  sometimes 
growing  as  high  as  seven  or  eight  feet,  and  afforded  ex- 
cellent pasturage.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  9 

these  natural  pastures  in  Woodford  County  supported 
herds  of  bison,  deer  and  other  animals  for  centuries,  nor 
are  evidences  lacking  that  our  vast  western  prairies 
were  inhabited  by  civilized  people  long  before  history 
began  to  be  written.  The  grasses  which  grew  in  the 
sloughs  and  along  the  margins  of  the  ponds  were 
coarser  and  taller  than  those  which  grew  on  the  up- 
lands, and  both  localities  were  occupied  by  several 
varieties.  There  is  very  little  of  these  native  grasses 
now  to  be  found  in  the  county,  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  soil,  having  been  cultivated,  is  rendered  unfit  for 
their  production.  The  broad  prairies  were  thickly  inter- 
spersed with  bright  flowers,  nodding  their  gay  heads  in 
the  wind,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  Chief  among 
these  were  those  of  the  helianthus,  or  sunflower  family. 
Flowers  of  this  sort  had  a  dark  central  head,  surrounded 
by  spreading  rays  of  yellow  or  purple  leaves,  and  were 
of  many  varieties.  The  ponds  and  sloughs  were  gor- 
geous with  beautiful  bright  colored  lilies,  and  many 
other  species  of  wild  flowers  aided  in  ornamenting 
nature's  broad  flower  garden — the  prairies. 

The  burning  of  the  prairies  in  the  fall  exposed  the 
farms  of  the  early  settlers  to  much  danger,  and  some- 
times rendered  travel  dangerous  if  the  wind  was  high. 
The  tall,  rank  grass  would  be  killed  by  the  sharp  frosts , 
and  in  a  few  days  become  dry  and  combustible.  In  a 
strong  wind  a  billow  of  fire  would  sweep  over  the  plain 
and  lick  up  this  grass  with  the  speed  of  a  race  horse 
Those  who  crossed  wide  prairies  at  such  times  of  year 
usually  carried  some  means  of  lighting  a  fire,  and  in 
case  of  need  the  grass  was  fired  and  a  space  soon 


10 


HISTORY  OP  WOODFORD  COTNTY. 


burnt,  which  afforded  a  safe  retreat  from  the  approach- 
ing danger.  Matches  would  have  been  a  great  boon,  but 
there  were  no  matches  in  those  days.  The  early  settlers 
were  compelled  to  keep  fire,  or  depend  upon  the  some- 
what uncertain  supply  of  flint  and  tow.  It  was  some- 
times found  necessary  to  send  to  a  neighbor's  and 
"  borrow  fire."  The  farmers  would  usually  select  some 
calm  day,  as  soon  as  the  grass  would  burn,  and  fire  a 
strip  about  their  fields,  on  the  sides  from  which  danger 
might  be  apprehended.  Several  neighbors  would  collect 
together,  and  all  except  one  would  be  well  armed  with 
bundles  of  brush.  The  unarmed  one  would  kindle  a  fire 
a  few  yards  from  the  fence,  and  by  means  of  brands 
conduct  it  in  a  line  parallel  with  the  fence.  The  men 
and  boys  with  the  brashes  would  arrange  themselves 
close  on  either  side  of  the  fire  line,  and  as  soon  as  the 
burnt  strip  was  wide  enough  to  preclude  all  danger  of 
being  crossed  by  a  fire  coming  in  from  the  prairie,  would 
whip  out  the  flames,  thus  leaving  a  broad,  black  strip 
around  the  field.  If  this  precaution  was  neglected  the 
settler  often  paid  pretty  dearly  for  his  carelessness. 
Many  among  us  still  remember  the  midnight  alarm  of 
the  prairie  on  fire,  and  being  hurried  out  of  a  comforta- 
ble nap  to  fight  the  destroying  fiend.  A  praire-fire  at 
night  is  a  beautiful  and  fearful  sight,  and  the  roar  of 
the  flames  may  sometimes  be  heard  for  several  miles- 
These  are  things  of  the  past  now,  but  it  is  well  for  our 
children  to  know  the  dangers  and  hardships  through 
which  their  present  comforts  and  conveniences  have 
been  brought  to  them. 

The  origin  of  our  prairies  has  long  been  a  puzzle  and 
a  subject  for  investigation  and  controversy  among  scien- 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  11 

tific   men.     It  is  evident  that  for  ages  the  forests  and 
prairies   have  lived  neighborly,  side  by  side,  without 
either  encroaching  upon    the  other's  territory.      Why 
such    different   soils  and  products   so   close    together? 
Many  theories  have  been  advanced  to  account  for  the 
treeless  and   shrubless  character  of    the  prairies.      It 
has  been  asserted  that   the  soil  was  too  dry  for  trees  ; 
that  it  was  too  wet;  that  there  was  too  much  acid;  that 
the  prairies  are  the  product  of  annual  fires,  which  only 
permitted  the  growth  of  perennial  grasses  and  annual 
herbs      Nearly  all  are  agreed,  however,  that  our  prai- 
ries were  once  the  bottoms  of  extensive  lakes  and  rivers, 
of  which  our  ponds  and  sloughs  are  the  lingering  rem- 
nants, growing   smaller  and  smaller  as  the  country  is 
raised.     In  Minnesota,  among  the  numberless  lakes,  we 
perhaps  see  prairies  in  state  of  preparation,  and  much 
the  same  condition  of  affairs  as  prevailed  in  Illinois 
hundreds  of  years  ago.      This   theory   seems   to  carry 
with  it  the  conclusion  that  the  great  lakes  to  the  north 
and  northeast  of  us  once  extended  over  a  great  portion 
of  Illinois,  and  that  VVoodford  County  was  a  part  of  the 
bed  of  Lake   Michigan.     The  theory  also  predicts  that 
in  time,  if  left  to  natural  agencies,  these  irreat  lake  sur- 
faces will    become  prairies,  and  a  few  little  ponds  and 
muddy  sloughs  their  only  vestiges.     Before    dismissing 
the  subject  of  the  prairies,  it  may  be  said  that,  evidently, 
the  best  preparation  of  prairie  land  for  the  planting  of 
trees,  is  to  break  the  clay  subsoil  by  digging  through  it 
and  filling  in  with  some  loose  material  that  shall  afford 
some  sort  of  an  artificial  drainage. 

Woodford  County,  geologically,  is  situated  near  the 
northern  limit  of  the  great  Illinois  and  Missouri  coal 
fields,  which  extend  into  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Kansas, 
Arkansas,  Iowa  and  Minnesota.  It  reaches  as  far  south 


12  HlSTOtJY  OF  WOOBFORD  COUNTY. 

as  northern  Texas,  and  probably  covers  an  area  of 
100,000  square  miles.  Near  the  Illinois  river  the  coal 
comes  nearly  to  the  surface,  but  on  the  prairies  the  prof- 
itable veins  are  from  300  to  600  feet  from  the  surface, 
requiring  deep  shaft  mining.  Two  attempts  at  mining 
of  this  character  have  been  made,  one  at  Minonk,  and 
one  near  Metamora.  The  shaft  near  Metamora  was 
sunk  to  the  depth  of  130  feet.  At  a  little  over  fifty  feet 
a  seam  of  coal  was  found  about  one  foot  thick.  At 
about  125  feet  a  three  inch  seam  was  met  with,  and 
at  the  bottoai  a  seam  about  three  feet  and  a 
half  in  thickness.  Only  about  one-third  of  the  thick- 
ness, in  the  middle,  of  this  seam  is  good  coal.  A 
boding  was  made  from  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  about  80 
feet  and  no  considerable  coal  found.  The  shaft  at  Mi- 
nonk is  nearly  600  feet  in  depth,  and  coal  occurs  as  fol- 
lows :  at  325  feet  a  three-foot  seam,  which  is  evidently 
the  one  met  with  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  near  Meta- 
mora. A  very  thin  seam  at  about  330  feet,  while  at  the 
bottom  is  found  a  seam  of  excellent  coal  nearly  four 
feet  in  thickness.  The  uplands  of  the  county  have,  eve- 
rywhere, just  beneath  the  soil,  beds  of  diluvium  or  drift 
which  will  average  almost  a  hundred  feet  in  thickness. 
This  is  a  most  singular  deposit  and  extends  almost  to  the 
southern  limits  of  the  state.  It  is  composed  chiefly  of 
yellow  and  blue  clay  with  some  sand  and  gravel.  Imbed- 
bedded  in  this  material  are  rocks  and  boulders  of  all  sizes 
and  shapes,  which  have  evidently  been  brought  from  a 
distance.  It  also  abounds  in  fossils  of  plants  and  ani- 
mals unlike  anything  now  exisiting  in  this  region.  This 
singular  mixture  has  been  a  great  puzzle  to  geologists.  It 
was  first  called  diluvium  because  it  was  believed  to  have 
been  caused  by  Noah's  deluge ;  but  this  supposition 
was  finally  abandoned.  It  is  now  generally  believed  by 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  13 

geologists  that  all  this  material  was  brought,  or  drifted, 
here  from  some  place  further  north.  It  is,  therefore,  now 
called  "  drift."  The  clays  are  sometimes  called  boulder 
clay  because  of  the  rocks  distributed  irregularly 
throughout  them.  The  reasons  cannot  here  be  enumer- 
ated, but  there  are  many  for  believing  that  this  deposit 
was  made  by  a  great  sea  of  ice,  or  glacier,  which  grad- 
ually crept  down  from  the  north,  bringing  with  it  these 
vast  amounts  of  matter,  and  extending  about  as  far 
south  as  the  Ohio  river. 

The  first  comers  found  many  sorts  of  animals  here, 
which  are  at  present  nearly  extinct.  Among  birds, 
there  were  quails,  prairie  hens  and  wild  turkeys,  all  in 
great  abundance,  and  all  excellent  for  food.  Many 
sorts  of  the  feathered  songsters  are  still  with  us,  but 
their  numbers  have  been  too  .much  thinned  by  useless 
and  shameful  warfare.  Among  our  wisest  laws  are 
those  for  the  protection  of  the  birds.  Snakes  were 
plentiful,  especially  on  the  prairies,  the  largest  species 
sometimes  attaining  the  length  of  eight  or  ten  feet. 
The  most  dreaded  was  the  venomous  rattlesnake,  which 
was  very  common,  but  now,  happily,  is  rarely  seen. 
Stinging  flies  and  mosquitoes  were  produced  in  count- 
less numbers  by  the  sloughs  arid  ponds,  and  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year  ware  a  vexatious  pest  to  man  and 
beast.  A  large  bloodthirsty  fellow,  known  as  the 
"Green-head  fly,"  drove  an  unceasing  business  during 
the  latter  half  of  the  summer,  and  was  an  object  espec- 
ially dreaded  by  horses  and  cattle.  They  are  about  ex- 
tinct now.  Prairie  wolves  were  numerous  and  familiar 
neighbors.  They  gave  the  early  farmer  nocturnal  con- 


14  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

certs,  and  paid  themselves  from  his  sheep  pen,  or  Ids 
tender  piglings.  They  seemed  to  be  born  dyspeptics 
and  were  always  hungry.  They  would  prowl  in  gangs, 
and  it  was  unsafe  for  a  man  to  be  among  them  alone  at 
night.  One  of  the  favorite  methods  of  exterminating 
them  was  the  circle  hunt,  and  was  conducted  as  follows  : 
Upon  a  set  day  the  settlers  would  gather  at  an  appointed 
place  on  horseback ;  a  captain  was  appointed  and 
orders  were  given.  As  large  a  territory  as  practicable 
was  enclosed  and  the  game  driven  towards  a  central 
point,  agreed  upon  before  hand.  When  the  game  was 
finally  penned  by  riders  near  together  the  work  of  kill- 
ing begun.  The  wolves  which  escaped  through  the  line 
were  chased  down  and  dispatched  with  clubs.  Deer 
would  also  be  often  taken  in  the  circle.  Bounties  were 
offered  by  the  state  for  wolf  scalps,  and  wolf  hunting  for 
a  time  became  profitable.  Money  was  scarce,  and  it 
was  sometimes  easier  for  the  settler  to  get  enough 
scalps  to  pay  his  taxes  than  enough  money.  The  poor 
wolf  has  about  succumbed  to  this  unceasing  warfare, 
and  we  have  seen  his  lank,  familiar  visage  for  almost 
the  last  time.  To  his  old  neighbors  and  acquaintances 
this  is  a  matter  of  small  regret,  which  argues  that  Canis 
Lupus  was  a  bad  citizen.  There  was  a  few  foxes  and 
many  deer  which  afforded  sport  in  the  way  of  the  chase. 
Deer  and  fox  hounds  had  then  some  excuse  for  exist- 
ence, but  now  their  occupation  is  gone.  The  groves 
abounded  in  squirrels,  and  raccoons  were  common. 
Coon  hunting  was  chiefly  prosecuted  at  night,  and  was 
splendid  sport  for  boys  and  dogs.  A  fight  between  a 
large  "  coon  "  and  the  dogs  was  an  exciting  and  inter- 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFOKD  COUNTY.  15 

esting  spectacle.  A  wise  old  cur  who  knew  how  to  kill 
a  coon,  enjoyed  an  enviable  reputation  among  the  boys 
and  his  canine  associates.  A  good  "coon  dog"  was  an 
important  member  of  the  family.  Many  an  inexperi- 
enced cur  got  the  conceit  taken  out  of  him  by  a  short 
tussle  with  a  full  grown  raccoon.  Badgers1  were  occa- 
sionally met  with,  and  now  and  then  a  black  bear  or  a 
panther.  Wild  cats  and  skunks,  and  other  animals 
common  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  were  here.  As  be- 
fore said,  most  of  these  creatures,  little  and  big,  are 
fast  becoming  extinct,  and  it  would  be  useful  in  after- 
time  to  have  carefully  prepared  specimens  of  them  all. 
It  should  be  part  of  the  work  of  our  public  schools  to 
collect,  classify,  name  and  preserve  all  these  objects. 
The  numbers  of  wild  animals  were  greatly  diminished 
by  the  deep  snow  of  the  winter  of  1830-1.  This  snow 
began  Dec.  27,  1830,  and  fell  to  the  depth  of  three  or 
four  feet,  and  lay  on  the  ground  until  vast  numbers  of 
animals  perished. 

There  were  a  few  Indians  in  the  county  at  the  time  of 
settlement  by  the  whites,  but  the  two  races  did  not  come 
into  conflict  to  any  extent.  The  advancing  wave  of 
civilization  seemed  to  follow  up  the  retreating  wave  of 
barbarism.  The  first  settlers  encountered  a  few  Indi- 
ans, chiefly  Pottawotomies,  and  in  1832  were  involved 
to  some  extent  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  but  the  active 
operations  were  further  north  than  Woodford  County. 
A  number  of  the  early  settlers  were  engaged  in  this 
war,  some  of  whom  are  still  living  among  us.  This  war 
is  remarkable  for  the  fact  that  both  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  Jefferson  Davis  were  engaged  against  Black  Hawk. 


16  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 


The  poor  Sac  Chief  little  thought  that  he  was  waging 
war  with  palefaces  who  would  become  so  much  greater 
chieftains  than  himself. 

The  first  white  man  who  settled  in  the  limits  of  this 
county  was  one  JBleylock,  who  was  found  in  the  river 
bottom,  near  Spring  Bay,  as  early  as  1819.  A  few 
years  after  this,  pioneers  began  •  to  make  settlements 
here  and  there,  but  the  number  did  not  increase  very 
rapidly  till  about  1835.  I  have  endeavored  to  collect 
the  names  of  settlers  in  the  various  neighborhoods  up 
to  this  date,  and  the  result  will  be  found  in  the  following 
table.  It  includes  all  those  who  located  in  the  county 
previous  to  1836,  so  far  as  could  be  ascertained,  but  no 
doubt  there  are  some  whose  .names  do  not  appear  here  : 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 


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CHAPTER  II. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  COUNTY., 

For  about  fifteen  years  after  their  first  settlement  the 
localitie-s,  mentioned  in  the  first  chapter,  were  included 
in  the  boundaries  of  McLean  and  Tazewell  counties,  the 
dividing  line  between  the  twTo  running  north  and  south 
through  the  present  town  of  Eureka.  Up  to  this  time 
settlements  had  been  made  near  the  timber  and  along  the 
water-courses  in  all  parts  of  the  present  territory  of  the 
county,  but  the  prairies  were  unoccupied.  Some  places 
acquired  considerable  importance,  in  the  early  times, 
wrhich  are  at  present  almost  abandoned.  Bowling 
Green  was  a  thriving  village,  where  goods  were  sold, 
and  shops  were  established ;  she  also  possessed  her 
share  of  professional  men.  Her  streets  were  named  in 
honor  of  the  then  chief  cities  of  Illinois  :  Chicago, 
Peoria,  Springfield,  Danville  and  Bloomington.  Ver- 
sailles was  laid  out  with  much  care.  The  streets  at  the 
four  boundaries  were  called,  respectively,  North,  West, 
South  and  East,  whilst  the  intermediate  ones  had 'such 
appropriate  titles  as  Peoria,  Chestnut,  Bloomington, 
Walnut,  State  and  Locust.  The  settlement  at  Metamora 
was  called  the  settlement  of  Partridge  Point.  It  was 
afterward  called  Hanover,  and  finally  Metamora.  El- 
Paso,  Eureka,  Minonk,  Secor  and  Roanoke  were  un- 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  23 

born,  and  there  was  little  to  indicate  that  these  would 
ever  be  centers  of  population  and  trade.  Not  many  of 
the  younger  portion  of  our  people  would  know  where  to 
locate  Ross's  Point  or  Travis's  Bridge.  Yet  these  were 
formerly  places  of  great  note,  and  I  rind  Travis's  Bridge 
now  near  Mt.  Zion  church,  in  Cruger  township,  men- 
tioned in  the  legislature  of  1840  as  one  of  the  impor- 
tant and  well  known  places  in  the  state. 

By  the  year  1840  settlers  had  become  numerous,  and 
it  began  to  appear  that  new  counties  must  be  formed 
lor  the  convenience  of  the  people.  Both  McLean  and 
Tazewell  counties  were  very  large  and  many  of  the  set- 
tlers remote  from  the  places  of  holding  courts.  A  few 
men  about  Versailles,  under  the  leadership  of  Thomas 
Bullock,  Sr.,  made  an  effort  in  1840  to  secure  th6  forma- 
tion  of  a  new  county,  with  Versailles  as  the  seat  of 
justice.  A  petition  to  the  legislature  was  prepared  and 
circulated.  There  was  a  movement  at  Washington 
about  the  same  time  to  form  a  new  county  with  Wash- 
ington as  the  county  seat.  Most  of  the  settlers  on  the 
west  side  of  Walnut  Grove,  then  Tazewell  county,  fa- 
vored che  latter  project.  Uncle  Tom  Bullock  got  infor- 
mation of  the  plans  of  the  Washington  men,  and  with 
great  energy  pushed  the  circulation  of  his  petition  and 
as  soon  as  possible  laid  it  before  the  legislature.  The 
other  party,  finding  themselves  too  slow,  were  compelled 
to  take  the  defensive,  and  soon  appeared  with  a  remon- 
strance. Excitement  ran  pretty  high,  and  the  journals 
of  the  two  houses  show  that  the  bill  for  the  formation 
of  Woodford  County  had  a  long  and  doubtful  embry- 
onic period.  It  was  frequently  called  up  and  advocated 


24  HISTOEY  OF  WOODFOED  COUNTY. 

or  opposed,  tinkered  and  half-soled,  and  then  "referred." 
Attempts  were  made  to  have  the  proposition  submitted 
to  a  vote  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  territory  to  be  or- 
ganized into  the  new  county.  But  on  the  twenty-sev- 
enth day  of  February,  1841,  the  bill  was  finally  ap- 
proved by  the  governor  without  such  submission.  It 
was  entitled,  an  Act  for  the  formation  of  the  County  of 
Woodford,  and  I  suppose  this  name  was  selected  by 
Uncle  Tom  Bullock  to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of 
his  old  county  in  Kentucky.  The  first  section  of  the 
act  describes  the  boundaries  as  follows  :  u  Beginning  at 
the  southwest  corner  of  Livingston  county,  thence  on  a 
straight  line  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  twenty,  township  twenty -five  north, 
range  one  east  of  the  third  principal  meridian  ;  thence 
south  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  twenty-nine,  township  and  range  aforesaid  ; 
thence  west  to  the  Tazewell  county  line  ;  thence  north 
one  and  a  half  miles  ;  thence  west  to  the  center  of  town- 
ship twenty-five  north  range  two  west,  of  the  third 
principal  meridian ;  thence  north  to  the  line  be- 
tween townships  twenty-six  and  twenty-seven ; 
thence  west  to  the  Illinois  river;  thence  with  said  river 
to  the  northwest  corner  of  Tazewell  county ;  thence 
with  the  northern  boundary  of  Tazewell  and  McLean 
counties  to  Livingston  county  ;  thence  south  to  the  place 
of  beginning. " 

The  second  secton  provides  for  the  election  of  county 
officers,  on  the  second  Monday  ot  April,  1841.  The 
election  was  to  be  held  at  Versailles  and  the  places  for 
voting  for  Justices  of  the  Peace  in  the  county.  The 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  25 

third  section  provides  that  the  poll-books  shall  be  re- 
turned to  Versailles,  to  Matthew  Bracken,  John  W. 
Brown  and  Morgan  Buckingham,  three  Justices  of  the 
Peace.  Section  four  assigns  W"oodford  County  to  the 
eighth  judicial  circuit,  and  directs  the  judge  thereof  to 
appoint  a  Circuit  Clerk  and  hold  courts  therein  as  soon 
as  organization  is  effected.  Sections  five,  six  and  seven 
provide  for  the  disposition  of  suits  begun  previous  to 
organization  ;  the  jurisdiction  of  officers  already  elected, 
and  the  proper  disposition  of  the  school  fund.  The 
eighth  section  locates  the  seat  of  justice  at  Versailles 
for  two  years,  upon  the  condition  that  the  inhabitants 
should  provide  a  good  and  suitable  building  for  courts 
and  other  public  business ;  and  directs  an  election  to 
be  held  at  the  end  of  the  two  years  for  a  permanent  lo- 
cation of  the  seat  of  justice.  The  place  chosen  must 
receive  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  polled,  and  give  se- 
curity for  a  donation  of  at  least  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
for  erection  of  county  buildings.  Section  nine  fixes  the 
share  and  the  time  of  payment  of  the  McLean  county 
debt,  by  those  who  had  been  citizens  of  that  county ; 
and  the  tenth  and  last  section  places  Woodford  in  the 
same  senatorial  and  representative  district  with  McLean 
and  Tazewell. 

On  the  17tii  of  February,  1843,  the  legislature  passed 
an  act  to  add  to  Woodford  County  all  that  part  of 
Tazewell  lying  north  of  the  line  dividing  townships 
twenty -five  and  twenty-six,  north ;  with  the  proviso 
that  the  annexation  should  be  approved  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  legal  voters  of  each  county.  A  special 
election  was  held  in  both  counties,  but  it  seems  the 


26  HISTOEY  OF  WOODFOBD  COUNTY. 

measure  was  not  adopted.  This  addition  would  have 
given  us  Washington,  and  possibly  have  given  Wash- 
ington the  county  seat.  On  the  28th  day  of  February, 
1843,  the  line  between  Woodford  and  McLean  counties 
was  permanently  established,  as  follows  :  "  beginning 
at  the  southwest  corner  of  Livingston  county,  running 
thence  west  three  miles,  thence  south  six  miles,  thence 
west  three  miles,  thence  south  two  and  a  half  miles, 
thence  west  three  miles,  thence  south  one  mile,  thence 
west  one  and  three-quarters  miles,  thence  south  one  mile, 
thence  west  one-fourth  of  a  mile  to  the  corner  of  Wood- 
ford  County."  This  constitutes  the  present  boundary. 

According  to  section  nine  of  the  original  act  forming 
Woodford  County,  those  who  had  been  citizens  of  Mc- 
Lean county  were,  after  1844,  to  pay  twelve  hundred 
dollars  of  the  McLean  county  debt.  On  the  1st  day  of 
March,  1843,  the  legislature  repealed  this  section,  and 
thus  relieved  the  citizens  of  this  obligation. 

It  had  been  provided  by  the  original  act  that  after  two 
years  the  seat  of  justice  should  be  permanently  located 
by  an  election  to  be  held  at  the  usual  places  of  voting 
in  the  county  ;  but  on  the  28th  day  of  February,  1843, 
this  part  was  repealed  by  an  act  appointing  James  K. 
Scott,  of  DeWitt,  Joseph  L.  Sharp,  of  Fulton,  and  John 
H.  Harris,  of  Tazewell,  a  commission  for  the  purpose  of 
locating  the  county  seat  of  Woodford  County.  These 
commissioners  were  to. meet  at  Versailles  on  the  first 
Monday  in  June,  1843.  They  were  to  be  duly  sworn 
and  locate  the  seat  of  justice  upon  the  faithful  consid- 
eration of  ''geographical  boundaries,  convenience  of 
inhabitants,"  present  and  prospective  settlements,  eli- 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORDCOUNTY.  27 

gibility  of  situations  and  such  other  lights  as  they 
might  think  proper.  The  act  farther  provides  that  when 
the  said  commissioners  shall  have  made  the  location  of 
the  seat  of  justice  they  shall  make  report  thereof  to 
the  County  Commissioners'  court,  who  shall  make  due 
record  thereof,  and  direct  the  application  of  the  dona- 
tion required  in  the  original  act.  On  the  sixth  of  March 
following  a  supplemental  act  was  passed  appointing7 
Levi  A.  Hannaford,  of  Peoria,  and  John  H.  Bryant,  of 
Bureau,  additional  commissioners  to  act  in  conjunction 
with  those  already  appointed.  This  commission  located 
the  county  seat  at  its  present  situation,  and  the  neces- 
sary steps  were  soon  taken  by  the  County  Commission- 
ers to  erect  public  buildings,  which  are  those  in  use  at 
present. 

As  we  have  already  said,  the  formation  of  Woodford 
County  was  chiefly  due  to  the  effort*  of  Thos.  Bullock, 
Sr.,  and  through  his  influence  Versailles  enjoyed  the 
distinction  of  being  the  capital  for  two  years.  The 
u  good  and  suitable  building"  required  by  the  legisla- 
ture for  the  public  business  seems  to  have  been 
promptly  furnished,  and  I  am  informed  that  it  still 
rears  its  venerable  gables  in  the  neighborhood,  being 
used  as  a  .barn.  In  this  building,  in  September,  1841, 
wa^  held  the  first  circuit  court  in  Woodford  County. 
Judge  Samuel  H.  Treat  was  on  the  bench,  and  among  the 
attorneys  at  this  first  session  were  Abraham  Lincoln, 
the  gallant  Col.  Ed.  D.  Baker,  David  Davis,  Stephen  T. 
Logan.  Jno.  J.  Harding,  Jno.  T.  Stewart  and  A.  Gridley. 

The  first  county  officers  were  as  follows :   Jos.  Meek, 
Josiah  Moore  and  James  Boys,  County  Commissioners, 


28  HISTOKY  OF  WOODFOKD  COUNTY. 


and  John  J.  Perry,  Clerk  of  county  commissioners' 
court  and  Recorder ;  J.  B.  Holland,  Judge  of  Probate  ; 
S.  S.  Parke,  Surveyor  ;  S.  J.  Cross,  Circuit  Clerk ;  Wm. 
S.  Magarity,  Sheriff;  William  Hoshor,  Coroner  ;  Jas.  S. 
McCord,  Treasurer ;  Joshua  Woosley,  Assessor,  and 
W.  E.  Rockwell,  Collector.  The  political  organization 
as  effected  above  remained  till  1850,  when  the  present 
township  organization  was  adopted,  after  much  discus- 
sion, excitement  and  speech-making,  and  strenuous 
opposition.  The  county  commissioners  have  been 
superseded  by  the  board  of  supervisors,  and  other 
changes  effected  not  necessary  to  be  enumerated  here. 
The  county  at /present  comprises  seventeen  townships. 


CHAPTER  III. 


DOMESTIC  AKD  SOCIAL  LIFE. 

The  progress  which  Woodford  County  has  made  in 
civilization  can  be  traced  no  more  plainly  in  any  re- 
spect than  in  the  conveniences,  appointments  and  meth- 
ods of  domestic  life.  From  a  domestic  condition  differ- 
ing but  little  from  that  of  the  Indian,  a  change  has  been 
made  to  the  comfort,  elegance  and  luxuriousness  of  the 
highest  and  most  artificial  civilization  in  a  single  gen- 
eration. The  first  settlers  of  the  county  dwelt  in  log 
cabins  of  rude  and  habty  construction.  No  lumber  was 
to  be  had.  Saw-mills  had  not  been  erected,  and  the 
pine  lumber,  now  so  common,  was  unheard  of.  Many 
of  the  cabins  contained  but  a  single  room  ;  and  a  double 
one,  of  two  rooms,  was  a  luxury  many  a  family  could 
not  afford.  The  matter  of  ventilation,  of  such  serious 
consideration  in  modern  architecture,  gave  them  but 
little  trouble,  except,  perhaps,  that  it  was  a  little  too 
easy  of  accomplishment.  The  logs  of  which  the  house 
was  built  were  sometimes  hewed,  so  as  to  present  a 
smooth  surface  on  both  sides  of  the  wall,  but  often  they 
were  notched  and  laid  up  hastily ;  the  pressing  needs 
of  the  settler's  family  not  permitting  the  hewing  to  be 
done.  The  cracks,  of  irregular  shape,  between  the  logs 
were  filled  with  clay,  made  into  a  sort  of  plaster.  If 
the  domicile  was  so  pretentious  as  to  display  window- 
D 


30  HISTOBY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

lights  they  were  made  of  oiled  paper.  The  doors  and 
floors  were  made  of  puncheons,  or  rough  boards,  split 
from  trees  and  battened  together  with  wooden  nails  or 
pegs.  The  roof  was  covered  with  clap-boards,  or  some- 
times thatched.  The  heating  apparatus  was  the  fire- 
place with  its  bright,  hospitable  face.  The  chimney 
was  built  of  split  sticks,  piled  up  in  a  rectangle,  pen 
fashion,  and  plastered  inside  and  out  with  clay  mud. 
Wooden  pegs,  driven  into  the  wall,  or  clap-board  shelves 
resting  upon  pegs,  answered  the  purpose  of  wardrobe, 
cupboard  and  bureau.  Tables,  benches  and  bedsteads 
were  of  such  rude  construction  as  the  skill  and  imple- 
ments (usually  an  ax  and  an  augur,  with  a  hunting 
knife  or  jack  knife)  of  the  pioneer  could  effect. 

When  we  come  to  consider  the  culinary  arrangements 
of  these  old4ime  households  we  are  sensible  of  occupy- 
ing a  comfortable  vantage  ground.  We  need  not  re- 
move from  the  parlor  or  sitting  room  to  find  the  objects 
of  our  investigation.  The  same  apartment  often  served 
for  the  parlor,  dining  room,  library,  kitchen,  cellar, 
storehouse  and  bedroom.  There  were  no  cooking  stoves 
in  those  days.  The  meals  were  prepared  at  the  fire- 
place. Sometimes,  for  lack  of  vessels,  the  bread  and 
potatoes  were  baked  in  the  ashes,  while  the  meat  was 
roasted  on  a  spit,  or  twig  held  over  the  fire  by  hand. 
The  well-to-do  settlers  had  ovens,  pots,  kettles,  frying 
pans,  &c.  Corn  bread  was  usually  baked  in  hot  ashes 
and  coals,  without  vessel  of  any  sort.  For  baking  bis- 
cuits a  round,  shallow  oven  was  used.  It  was  of  iron, 
and  tolerably  thick.  The  biscuits  were  placed  in  the 
oven  which  was  set  upon  the  coals  in  front  of  the  fire- 


HISTOEY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  31 

place.  A  heavy  lid  was  placed  upon  the  vessel  and  a 
shovel-full  of  coals  on  top  of  that.  The  biscuits  were 
then  subjected  to  heat  from  both  sides,  and  came  out 
nice  and  light.  I  remember  to  have  seen  among  the  old 
residents  an  apparatus  for  baking  thin  cakes  from  bat- 
ter. These  cakes  were  very  toothsome,  and  were  called 
waffles.  Waffle-irons  were  made  of  two  rectangular 
pieces  of  iron,  about  six  by  eight  inches,  which  fitted 
together  in  such  way  as  to  form  a  mold,  or  matrix,  which 
would  make  a  cake  about  half  an  inch  thick.  Each 
half  of  the  mold  was  attached  to  an  iron  rod  three  or 
four  feet  long.  These  rods  were  pivoted  together  near 
the  molds,  and  the  irons  were  opened  and  shut  scissors- 
fashion.  The  batter  being  put  in  the  waffle-iron  was 
thrust  into  a  hot  place  in  the  fire,  and  in  a  few  seconds 
there  was  turned  out  a  sweet  and  beautifully  indented 
waffle.  The  modern  pancake  is  a  degenerate^and  sorry 
descendant  of  this  cherished  ancestor. 

Fruits  were  stewed  for  immediate  use,  or  made  into 
pies.  For  winter  they  were  jammed  or  preserved.  Both 
processes  were  very  expensive  on  the  account  of  the 
scarcity  of  sugar ;  and  a  small  quantity  of  such  delica- 
cies was  stored  carefully  away  to  be  produced  only  on 
extra  occasions.  The  modern  processes  of  canning  fruit 
were  unknown ;  apples  were  not  yet  being  produced, 
and  the  long  winter's  subsistence  consisted  chiefly  of 
bread  and  meat.  Many  a  lad  was  rejoiced  at  the  advent 
of  some  distinguished  visitor,  because  of  the  proba- 
bility afforded  thereby  of  seeing,  and  possibly  tasting, 
a  little  preserves.  Vegetables,  pumpkins  and  hominy 
were  cooked  in  pots  or  kettles,  set  over  the  fire.  After 


32  HISTOEY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

a  time  an  improvement  was  adopted  in  the  shape  of  a 
long  iron  arm,  fastened  to  an  upright  iron  rod  attached 
to  the  jamb  in  such  way  as  to  turn  readily  in  any  di- 
rection. This  arm  coulS  thus  be  turned  so  as  to  bring 
a  pot  suspended  from  it  over  the  fire  or  back  against 
the  jamb,  out  of  the  way.  This  was  called  a  crane,  and 
was  considered  a  wonderful  convenience.  Cooking 
stoves  did  not  come  into  general  use  until  near  1850, 
the  first  having  been  introduced  about  ten  years  before. 

Before  apples  were  to  be  had  the  staple  fruit  was  the 
golden  and  classic  pumpkin.  The  pumpkins  were  pared 
and  cut  into  pieces  of  convenient  size  for  drying.  They 
were  then  run  upon  strings  and  hung  up  along  with  red 
pepper  pods,  seed  corn  and  jerked  venison,  articles  at 
once  useful  and  ornamental  in  the  settler's  homely 
cabin.  Crab-apples  were  sometimes  gathered  and 
buried  in  the  ground  for  winter  use.  Walnuts,  hickory 
and  hazel  nuts  were  abundant,  and  the  younger  fry  sub- 
sisted largely  upon  these.  In  the  way  of  flesh  the  pio- 
neer's family  was  usually  well  supplied.  In  addition  to 
the  domestic  animals  and  fowls,  which  were  soon  intro- 
duced, the  country  abounded  in  excellent  game,  as  men- 
tioned elsewhere,  and  the  Mackinaw,  Walnut  and  Pan- 
ther creeks  were  full  of  choice  fish.  Milk  and  butter 
soon  came  to  be  plenty,  but  tea  and  coffee  were  costly 
and  rare  luxuries.  Wild  bees  were  plentiful,  and  many 
a  hollow  tree  furnished  the  early  settler  with  delicious 
honey. 

Among  the  early  settlers  store-clothes  were  out  of  the 
question.  The  garments,  as  well  as  the  fabrics  of  which 
they  were  made,  were  the  products  of  home  industry. 


HISTOEY  OF  WOODFOED  COUNTY.  33 

These  fabrics  were  linen,  jeans  and  linsey.  The  linen 
was  prepared  from  the  flax,  raised  and  manufactured  by 
the  rude  implements  then  at  hand.  The  breaking, 
hatcheling,  spinning  and  weaving  of  flax,  with  their 
poor  facilities,  was  a  slow  and  laborious  work  for  our 
fathers  and  mothers,  and  a  nice  piece  of  home-made 
linen  was  an  a.rticle  of  great  value.  Linsey  was  made 
of  linen,  or  usually  cotton,  chain  with  fine  woolen  fill- 
ing. This  constituted  the  chief  winter  wear  of  the 
women.  Jeans  was  made  in  much  the  same  manner, 
except  that  the  filling  was  heavier  than  for  linsey.  It 
was  usually  colored  brown  with  walnut  bark,  or  ren- 
dered more  beautiful  and  expensive  with  the  familiar 
blue  dye.  A  well  fitting  suit  of  linsey  or  blue  jeans 
was  both  handsome  and  durable,  and  there  was  a  laud- 
able emulation  among  housewives  to  produce  the 
best  and  prettiest  fabrics  of  this  sort.  The  wool 
for  these  fabrics  was  either  dyed  before  carding  or  in 
the  hank.  The  settler  would  shear  his  flock  about  the 
beginning  of  summer,  and  the  wife  and  children  would 
put  in  their  spare  time  preparing  the  winter  apparel 
during  the  season.  Before  the  establishment  of  carding 
mills,  which  was  about  the  year  1831,  the  whole  process 
of  preparing  wool  was  carried  on  at  home.  The  first 
thing  to  be  done  with  the  wool,  after  being  thoroughly 
cleansed,  was  to  card  it.  The  cards  consisted  of  two 
thin  boards,  about  four  inches  wide  and  one  foot  long, 
thickly  set  on  one  side  with  fine,  short  bent  wires  ;  at 
the  side  of  each  was  attached  a  short  handle.  With  a 
pair  of  these  instruments  an  accomplished  lady  of  the 
period  could  quickly  and  skillfully  work  a  pile  of  snowy 


34  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY'- 

wool  into  smooth,  even  rolls.  These  rolls  were  then 
spun  into  threads,  which  wero  reeled  into  hanks,  the 
yarn  w  as  then  twisted  by  means  of  the  spinning  wheel, 
and  run  upon  "quills."  The  thread  was  then  ready  for 
the  loom.  After  the  materials  were  ready  an  expert 
weaver  could  produce  five  yards  of  jeans  in  a  day. 
Some  of  the  earliest  settlers  wore  buckskin  clothing, 
but  this  never  prevailed  to  any  extent  in  Woodford 
County. 

The  social  customs  among  the  early  comers  were  of 
the  most  natural  and  unostentatious  sort.  Hospitality 
was  a  marked  characteristic  of  the  times.  Gatherings 
were  frequent,  and  visiting  a  feature  of  social  life  much 
more  general  than  at  present.  Personal  social  equality 
was  secured  by  the  necessary  equality  in  circumstances 
and  belongings.  Social  distinctions,  in  our  best  civili- 
zations, do  not  depend  upon  ability  and  character  so 
much  as  upon  differences  in  personal  surroundings. 
Houses,  furniture,  vehicles  and  dress  are  the  props  upon 
which  the  social  grades  of  Christendom  are  built.  Among 
our  fathers  and  mothers  all  were  alike  in  these  respects, 
and  the  personal  equality,  which  gave  so  much  zest  and 
pleasure  to  social  life,  was  a  matter  of  course  The  de- 
sire to  excel  in  dress  and  domestic  appointments,  which 
it  is  useless  to  deny  is  the  sin  and  bane  of  modern  soci- 
ety, was  never  awakened  in  the  hearts  of  our  pioneers. 
Circumstances  made  it  impossible,  and  left  room  for  the 
exercise  of  their  kindly  and  social  instincts,  and,  no 
doubt,  gave  them  purer  and  sweeter  springs  of  social 
enjoyment  than  are  now  accessible.  Long  and  frequent 
visits  among  neighbors  were  prompted  and  hospitality 


HISTOKY  OF  WOODFOED  COUNTY.  35 

quickened  not  solely  by  charity,  though  this  in  large 
measure  must  be  conceded  to  the  early  settlers.  The 
common  and  stereotyped  invitation  to  "  come  and  spend 
the  day,"  and  the  often  acceptance  thereof,  were 
prompted  somewhat  by  the  same  instinct  which  led  the 
Athenians  to  spend  their  time  in  hearing  and  telling 
some  new  thing.  Visits  and  social  gatherings  were  the 
occasions  of  hearing  and  telling  the  news.  A  stranger 
was  received  and  entertained  over  night,  without  charge, 
partly  from  the  same  motive  which  prompts  a  man  to 
buy  a  newspaper  or  a  story  book.  Nor  is  this  curiosity 
a  mean  or  useless  thing.  It  impels  to  those  investiga- 
tions of  history  and  nature  which  are  constantly  enlarg- 
ing the  bounds  of  our  knowledge.  Among  the  early 
settlers  these  things  gave  point,  interest  and  dignity  to 
fireside  conversation  ;  but  the  news  of  to-day  has  large- 
ly deserted  social  channels,  and  become  an  article  of 
commerce,  leaving  to  neighborly  and  social  intercourse 
the  emptiness  and  nonsense  so  wearisome  and  disgust- 
ing to  men  of  sense.  The  good  old  fireside  talks  of  the 
early  life  are  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  matter  and  mo- 
tive of  them  are  found  elsewhere,  and,  so  far  as  this 
generation  is  concerned,  conversation  is  almost  a  lost 
art.  That  it  will  be  revived  upon  a  different  basis  now 
being  laid  in  universal  education  can  scarcely  be 
doubted. 

In  the  way  of  gatherings  there  were  house  raisings, 
weddings,  funerals,  elections,  spelling  matches,  religious 
meetings  and  parties.  It  was  a  duty  no  settler  thought 
of  shirking  to  help  his  neighbor  to  raise  his  house  or 
barn.  These  were  constructed  of  heavy  materials,  and 


36  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

the  appliances  were  very  rude.  It  was  heavy  and 
dangerous  work,  and  the  raising  of  a  large  barn  required 
the  united  energies  of  a  whole  community.  The  early 
elections  were  not  by  ballot,  as  now,  but  each  voter 
signified  his  candidate  or  candidates  to  the  office  viva 
voce.  This  prevented  the  secresy  and  quiet  now  possi- 
ble, and  an  election  was  a  lively  and  interesting  occa- 
sion. Weddings  were  not  the  solemn  and  stately  things 
of  the  present ;  but  occasions  of  the  utmost  fun  and 
festivity.  A  funeral  was  a  time  of  sadness  Each  mem- 
ber of  a  small  community  possessed  a  larger  importance 
than  the  dweller  in  a  large  city,  or  dense  population. 
The  early  settler  looked  upon  the  loss  of  a  member 
much  as  a  family  does  at  the  loss  of  a  brother  or  sister- 
There  were  no  beautiful  and  guarded  cemeteries.  The 
loved  one  was  laid  to  rest  on  the  lone  hill-side  in  the 
forest,  encased  in  a  rude  coffin,  made  of  boards  split 

from  a  tree.     There  were  no  burial  cases — none  of  those 

* 

innocent  deceptions  by  which  we  persuade  ourselves 
that  we  keep  something  of  our  lost  ones  to  ourselves, 
and  rescue  the  precious  clay  from  corruption.  It  was  a 
literal  returning  of  dust  to  dust,  and  could  not  be  other 
than  sad.  Spelling  matches  were  a  useful  means  of 
education,  but  were  engaged  in  perhaps  more  from  the 
enjoyment  they  afforded,  and  the  sparking  facilities  en- 
joyed by  the  youngsters,  than  from  any  sense  of  their 
utility.  Religious  meetings  were  at  first  held  in  private 
houses,  and  were  thus  semi-domestic  in  character,  and 
it  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  along  with  the  meeting  there 
has  been  too  much  of  a  tendency  to  banish  to  the  meet- 
ing house  the  worship  and  piety  which  should  have 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  37 

been  partly  retained  at  home.  Parties  were  usually 
given  over  to  the  young  people,  and  the  boys  and  girls 
generally  managed  to  have  a  good  time  ;  a  little  uproar- 
ous  sometimes  with  "hurly-burly,"  "spin  the  plate,"  or 
"weevilly  wheat,"  but,  nevertheless,  enjoyable  and  in- 
nocent. There  has  been  considerable  change  in  the 
matter  of  amusements  and  pastimes.  The  immense 
amount  of  work  to  be  done  did  not  allow  of  so  much 
leisure  as  may  be  enjoyed  now,  but  yet  there  would  be 
many  seasons  which  could  be  spared  to  fun  and  recrea- 
ation.  One  of  the  chief  sports,  half  fun  and  half  busi- 
ness, was  hunting.  Every  settler  possessed  a  rifle,  and 
often  each  boy  must  have  one,  and  the  cabin  would  be 
ornamented  by  several  of  these  weapons  upon  their 
hooks.  Even  now  you  may  find,  in  the  old  farm 
houses,  many  a  long,  trusty  rifle  which  did  its  share  in 
the  early  day,  in  supporting  the  family.  There  it  hangs 
idly  in  its  rack,  and  quickens  the  recollection  of  the  old 
man  in  the  scenes  and  enjoyments  of  the  days  that  can 
return  no  more.  It  seems  to  have  outlived  its  usefulness, 
but  well  deserves  a  place  in  the  family  archives  for  what 
it  has  done.  Naturally  enough,  among  a  hunting  people, 
shooting  at  a  mark  was  a  favorite  pastime.  The  best 
shot  among  the  pioneers  was  one  who  was  held  in 
esteem  ;  and  it  was  refreshing,  not  many  years  ago,  to 
see  an  old  man  carefully  wipe  his  spectacles  and  show 
the  boys,  in  a  very  convincing  way,  how  much  better 
they  could  shoot  in  the  good  old  time  than  they  can 
now.  In  Walnut  Grove  there  used  to  be  immense  num- 
bers of  squirrels,  and  in  the  early  summer  the  people, 
for  miles  around  would  collect  at  the  old  meeting  house 


38  HISTOEY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

spring,  on  an  appointed  day,  and  enjoy  what  was  called 
a  "  burgout."  A  "burgout  (pronounced  burgoo)  was  a 
feast,  the  chief  feature  of  which  was  squirrel  soup. 
Early  on  the  appointed  clay  the  young  men  would  be 
abroad  with  rifles,  in  search  of  young  squirrels.  By 
eight  or  nine  o'clock  these  would  begin  to  come  in  from 
all  directions  with  their  game.  By  this  time,  the  old 
people  and  children  had  gathered  together  and  the 
work  of  preparation  was  begun.  Large  kettles  were 
suspended  over  the  fire,  and  in  these  the  dressed  squir- 
rels were  deliciously  souped.  By  common  consent  the 
direction  of  affairs  was  surrendered  to  Uncle  aLijah" 
Dickinson,  who  knew  exactly  how  to  make  the  best 
soup.  The  young  man  who  brought  in  the  greatest 
number  of  squirrels  was  the  hero  of  the  day,  and  di- 
vided the  honor,  if  not  the  authority  with  Uncle  Lijah. 
The  soup  was  supplemented  by  the  good  things  pre- 
pared at  home,  and  the  feast  was  always  one  of  bounty 
and  hospitality.  It  was  always  field  at  the  old  meeting 
house  spring,  near  the  southeast  corner  of  the  present 
college  campus,  and  the  memories  connected  therewith, 
in  many  a  heart,  are  pure  and  sweet  as  the  waters  which 
bubbled  up  from  its  depths.  Jumping  and  wrestling 
were  much  in  fashion,  and  it  was  an  enviable  thing  to 
be  the  champion  in  either  of  these  respects.  Among 
indoor  sports  checkers,  fox  and  geese  and  hull-gull  were 
vejy  common.  Books  were  scarce,  and  periodicals  rare, 
while  musical  instruments  were  confined  chiefly  to  the 
violin  and  accordeon.  Croquet  and  base  ball  were  un- 
known, but  there  were  bull-pen,  town-ball,  cat,  horse- 
shoe and  marbles.  These  were  excellent  in  their  time, 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  39 

but  we  fear  must  give  place  to  these  new  fangled  things 
which  are  not  half  so  good,  you  know. 

We  close  this  chapter  with  the  impression  that  change 
has  been,  and  still  is,  making  rapid  inroads  upon  the 
manners  and  customs  of  our  domestic  and  social  life. 
It  stamps  itself  upon  our  intercourse  and  amusements, 
upon  our  food  and  dress,  upon  our  houses  and  conveni- 
ences. Whether  those  changes  are  for  better  or  worse 
will  be  decided  in  different  ways  by  different  people  ; 
but  looking  over  the  whole  field  the  conclusion  is  forced 
upon  us  that  there  has  been  real  progress  in  all  depart- 
ments of  human  life.  That  in  the  two-fold  aspect  of  indi- 
vidual and  social  improvement  much  has  been  done  can 
hardly  be  doubted ;  and  the  retrospect  fills  us  with  hope 
and  high  anticipation  for  our  county  and  mankind. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


AGEICULTURE  AND  FAEM  PEODUCTS. 

The  chief  industry  among  the  early  settlers  of  Wood- 
ford  County  was  farming.  Many  of  them  had  been  me- 
chanics and  tradesmen  before  emigrating  from  their  old 
homes,  but  they  found  little  demand  for  their  services, 
and  soon  turned  their  attention  to  opening  up  farms. 
Almost  the  whole  country  is  tillable  land,  and  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  soil  is  still  the  most  important  interest 
and  is  likely  to  remain  so.  It  will,  therefore,  be  inter- 
esting to  note  the  progress  of  this  business  during  .the 
last  fifty  years.  About  the  year  1824  some  farms  were 
opened  in  the  river  bottom,  near  Spring  Bay.  About 
the  same  time  some  prairie  was  broken,  on  the  place  now 
occupied  by  Joseph  Meek,  by  a  man  named  Joseph  Dil- 
lon. The  first  comers  either  settled  in  the  timber  or  at 
the  skirts  thereof.  They  knew  of  the  fertility  of  the 
prairie  land,  and  the  comparative  ease  with  which  it 
t could  be  brought  into  cultivation,  but  thought  settle- 
ments away  from  the  timber  would  never  be  possible. 
They  little  dreamed  that  they  would  live  to  see  these 
broad  prairies  one  continuous  ptretch  of  farms  and 
pleasant  homes.  They  knew  little  of  the  treasures  of 
the  coal  mines  under  their  feet,  and  less  of  the  wonder- 
ful possibilities  suggested  thereby.  The  many  improved 
farms  on  our  prairies  have  chiefly  sprung  up  since  the 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  41 

days  of  coal  mines  and  Chicago  pine  lumber.  Many  of 
the  settlers  grubbed  farms  out  of  the  thick  trees  and 
brush,  at  great  expense  of  time  and  muscle,  when  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  blooming,  fertile  prairie  were  in  sight 
of  their  cabins,  unclaimed  and  unoccupied.  The  favor- 
ite location,  however,  was  at  the  edge  of  the  timber, 
where  materials  for  buildings  and  fences  and  fuel  were 
at  hand,  and  the  farm  extended  from  a  half  of  a  mile 
to  a  mile  into  the  prairie. 

The  out-buildings  were  usually  a  stable,  a  corn- crib, 
a  smoke-house  and  an  ash-hopper.  The  stable,  corn- 
crib  and  smoke-house  were  usually  of  logs,  and  the 
ash-hopper  of  clap-boards.  The  first  frame  farm 
houses  were  very  substantial  affairs.  The  sills,  plates 
and  corner  posts  being  heavy,  hewed  timbers,  mortised 
and  pinned  together  as  substantially  as  the  timbers  of 
a  modern  railroad  bridge.  Even  to  this  day  the  old 
settlers  look  upon  the  light,  pine  frames,  now  so  much 
in  vogue,  with  a  good  deal  of  suspicion.  Some  of  the 
early  barns  were  buildings  of  no  small  pretensions. 
They  were  of  the  solidest  materials,  and  sometimes  ©f 
considerable  size.  I  remember  one  which  was  standing 
till  about  the  year  1850,  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by 
Thos.  Ray,  near  Eureka.  This  building  was  constructed 
of  logs  hewed  on  two  sides,  so  as  to  present  a  smooth 
wall  inside  and  out.  They  were  about  ten  inches  thick, 
and  some  of  them,  near  the  base,  were  not  far  from  three 
feet  broad.  The  barn  was  about  thirty  feet  square,  and 
the  walls,  as  I  remember  them,  must  have  been  sixteen 
feet  high,  containing  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifteen 
thousand  feet  of  hard  lumber.  The  entire  space  within 


42  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

was  occupied  by  a  threshing  floor,  and  triangular  grain 
bins,  made  by  planking  off  the  corners.  This  threshing 
floor  was  made  use  of  by  the  neighbors  generally,  be- 
fore the  days  of  threshing  machines.  They  would  haul 
their  wheat  to  the  barn  in  the  sheaf,  distribute  a  quan- 
tity of  it  about  the  center  post  and  then  put  the  horses 
upon  it.  After  a  long  time  of  walking  round  and  round 
the  horses  were  taken  out,  the  straw  raked  off  and  re- 
moved, the  wheat  winnowed  by  means  of  shovels,  and 
taken  home.  The  plates  of  this  barn  were  nicely  hewed 
on  four  sides,  were  about  ten  by  eighteen  inches  and 
thirty  feet  long.  The  raising  of  such  a  building  must 
have  required  the  united  energies  of  the  whole  commu- 
nity. 

The  oldest  plank  fences  date  back  only  about  twenty- 
five  years,  and  before  that  time  rails  were  the  fencing 
material.  A  few  fences  were  made  of  sod,  but  these 
were  not  common.  The  splitting  and  hauling  of  rails 
was  a  work  of  great  labor,  but  a  good  rail  fence  was  a 
substantial  and  durable  affair.  In  late  years  the  farmers 
have  turned  their  attention  to  the  growing  of  hedges, 
and  many  experiments  have  been  made  with  plants  of 
various  sorts.  The  only  thing  which  so  far  has  been 
generally  adopted  is  the  osage  orange,  a  native  plant, 
which  grows,  under  favorable  circumstances,  to 
a  height  of  sixty  feet.  The  wood  is  elastic  and 
fine-grained,  and  was  much  used  by  the  Indians 
for  bows.  The  fruit  is  about  the  size  and  somewhat 
the  appearance  of  an  orange.  It  has  a  juicy  and 
wholesome  pulp,  but  is  not  much  relished  as  an  article 
of  food,  having  an  uninviting  taste  and  odor.  The 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  43 

scarcity  of  stone  forbids  its  use  as  a  fencing  material. 

The  early  implements  of  husbandry  were  of  the 
rudest  sort,  and  the  methods  slow  and  laborious.  The  first 
plows  used  in  Wood  ford  County  were  little  better  than 
those  in  use  in  Asia  twenty -five  hundred  years  ago  ;  for 
they  had  then  wooden  plows  with  iron  shares,  and  these 
were  the  only  sort  known  to  our  fathers  fifty  years  ago. 
The  best  plow  at  that  time  was  the  Carey,  with  wooden 
mold  board,  and  the  cultivator  was  the  old  time  shovel. 
Scouring  plows  were  introduced  about  thirty  years  ago, 
and  were  a  great  improvement,  since  they  lightened  the 
draft,  and,  what  is  equally  important,  enabled  the 
farmer  to  turn  the  crust  of  the  soil  upside  down,  thor- 
oughly pulverizing  it,  and  covering  up  the  weeds.  Grain 
was  sowed  by  hand,  and  covered  by  means  of  harrows 
or  brush  drags.  Corn  was  planted  by  hand  and  cov- 
ered with  a  hoe.  Sod  corn  was  planted  in  every  third 
furrow,  and  covered  by  the  sod  cat  by  the  plow  from 
the  next.  Corn  ground  was  u  laid  off"  by  running  far- 
rows with  a  shovel  plow,  four  feet  apart,  both  ways 
across  the  field.  This  was  a  tedious  process,  but  for 
many  years  it  did  not  occur  to  any  one  that  a  marker 
might  be  used,  which  should  make  three  or  four  rows 
at  a  time.  After  a  time  hand  planters  came  to  be  used, 
and  now  we  are  all  familiar  with  the  splendid  machines 
for  planting  this  most  important  of  our  products. 

Many  a  young  farmer  will  smile  to  be  told  that  the 
crows  and  blackbirds  used  to  be  regarded  as  formidable 
enemies  of  the  pioneer's  cornfield.  These  birds  were 
in  immense  numbers,  and  cornfields  were  not  numerous 
nor  large,  and  when  the  corn  was  young  these  thievish 


44  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUJSTTY- 

imps  exhibited  great  intelligence  and  commendable  in- 
dustry in  pulling  it  up  to  get  the  grain  which  would  ad- 
here to  the  little  stem,  ft  would  require  several  hills  of 
corn  to  make  a  breakfast  for  a  hungry  blackbird,  and 
they  did  much  mischief  in  this  way.  As  an  offset  corn 
was  generally  planted  too  thick,  and  what  the  birds 
failed  to  thin,  had  to  be  thinned  by  hand,  Even  at  a 
distance  of  twenty-five  years  our  back  aches  at  the 
recollection  of  that  most  hated  of  all  pastimes,  thinning 
corn.  It  was,  in  our  estimation,  entirely "  too  thin." 
Before  the  days  of  double  shovels  the  proper  cultiva- 
tion of  corn  required  three  furrows  to  the  row.  The 
older  ones  would  do  the  plowing  next  to  the  rows  and 
leave  the  boys  to  "  split  the  middles."  Of  all  the  mo- 
notonous things  in  the  tedious  round  and  routine  of  hu- 
man labor,  there  is  nothing  approaching  in  monotonous- 
ly monotonous  monotony  the  "  splitting  of  middles." 
But  it  has  had  its  day,  and  has  Ibeen  laid  aside  with 
many  another  tedious  thing,  which  required  neither 
skill  nor  intelligence  but  stolid  perseverance.  At  first 
the  harvesting  was  done  largely  with  the  sickle,  or 
reaping  hook,  but  cradles  were  early  introduced.  Wheat 
used  to  be  a  mu@h  surer  crop  than  at  present,  and  the 
old-fashioned  harvest  was  a  time  of  plenty  in  all  re- 
spects. Plenty  of  grain,  hard  work,  fun  and  hot  weather. 
A  stout  man  with  a  cradle  could  cut  three  acres  of  grain 
per  day,  and  it  is  still  an  open  question  whether  a 
reaper  really  saves  much  time  orMabor.  However,  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  the  present"  inventions  of  har- 
vesters and  self-binders  will  leave  no  room  for  a  discus- 
sion of  this  sort.  It  being  impracticable  to  market 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  45 

grain  at  all  times  as  now,  the  wheat  and  oats  were  usu- 
ally stacked  and  thrashed  in  the  fall  and  winter.  The 
farms  in  August  presented  a  cheerful  sight,  with  their 
green  cornfields,  golden  stubble  and  huge  stackyards. 
Hay  was  not  so  much  cultivated  as  now.  Many  depended 
upon  wild  grasses,  and  meadows  of  tame  grass  occu- 
pied only  a  small  portion  of  the  farm.  Timothy  was 
the  chief  tame  grass ;  and  sometimes  in  flat  places  was 
a  patch  of  red-top,  or  English  grass,  sometimes  called 
herds-grass.  After  a  time  clover  was  introduced  and 
has  been  found  to  be  useful  not  only  as  an  article  of 
food  for  stock,  but  also  for  re-fertilizing  land  which  has 
been  exhausted  by  grain  crops.  The  common  red  clover 
is  the  variety  which  has  been  most  used.  Later  claim- 
ants for  favor,  however,  have  1  ailed  to  supplant  timothy 
and  clover. 

For  many  years  hay  was  cut  with  the  scythe  and 
taken  up  by  hand-rakes  and  pitchforks  ;  the  methods 
now  in  use,  and  the  implements  for  cutting  and  hand- 
ling being  vastly  superior  to  the  old.  These  render  the 
raising  of  stock  much  easier  than  it  could  be  done  with- 
out them. 

Stock  raising  was  not  much  of  a  business  in  Wood- 
ford  County  before  1850,  and  has  made  great  progress 
in  the  last  few  years.  The  first  settlers  kept  a  few  pigs 
and  cattle  in  a  promiscuous  way,  with  the  pastoral  idea 
that  they  might  furnish  the  family  with  milk  and  butter, 
and  meat  and  lard.  The  custom  of  raising  and  fatting 
stock  for  market  was  unknown.  After  a  time  markets 
were  established  on  the  Illinois  river  for  pork,  and  the 
farmers  began  to  fatten  a  few  hogs  annually.  There 


46  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

was  no  market  except  in  cold  weather,  and  the  hogs 
were  all  fattened  in  the  fall  and  winter.  Still  later  a 
few  men  began  to  buy  up  the  odd  calves  and  steers  a 
settler  might  have,  and  these  were  prepared  for  market, 
which  was  either  St.  Louis  or  Chicago.  Stock  raising 
soon  became  profitable.  It  is  true  pork  did  not  bring 
much,  but  it  did  not  cost  much  to  raise  hogs.  The  range 
was  large,  and  what  with  wild  strawberries,  blackber- 
ries, and  acorns  and  hazel  nuts  the  pigs  would  take  care 
of  themselves  during  the  summer  and  fall  and  come  up 
at  the  end  of  the  season  having  outgrown  the  knowl- 
edge of  most  intimate  friends,  and  ready  for  easy  fat- 
tening. Cattle  would  fatten  and  grow  on  the  prairies 
from  middle  of  spring  till  Christmas,  and  there  was  lit- 
tle thought  of  the  time  when  all  this  range  would  be 
fenced  and  owned  by  somebody,  and  pasturage  would 
be  scarce  and  expensive.  We  see  how  that  from  these 
rude  and  careless  beginnings  the  raising  of  stock  has 
become  an  important  and  systematic  part  of  farming. 
Great  improvement  has  been  made  in  the  breeds  of  cat- 
tle and  hogs,  and  our  sleek  and  aristocratic  Berkshires, 
Chesters,  Poland-Chinas,  Durhams,  &c.,  would  hardly 
claim  kin  with  their  ungainly  and  bony  predecessors. 
Attempts  to  improve  our  stock  of  horses  by  importa- 
tions and  careful  breeding  have  been  frequent  in  the 
last  few  years,  and  the  experiment  has  not  so  far  ad- 
vanced as  to  permit  the  extent  of  benefit  to  be  fully  de- 
termined. 

In  the  matter  of  poultry,  turkeys,  chickens,  ducks 
and  geese  were  soon  introduced,  but  there  has  been 
great  improvement  made  in  chickens.  The  kinds  upon 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUiNTY.  47 

which  the  pioneer  preacher  subsisted  were  tough  and 
poor  in  comparison  wiih  the  tender  and  luscious  ones 
which  tempt  the  modern  ministerial  palate. 

The  vegetable  garden  contributed  its  share  to  the  set- 
ler's  table.  Potatoes,  beets,  cabbages,  onions,  beans 
peas,  and  the  like,  grew  in  the  virgin  soil  with  such 
cultivation  as  the  women  could  give  them.  The  chief 
improvements  in  these  matters  being  the  early  varieties 
of  such  vegetables  as  have  been  cultivated  from  the 
beginning.  Cultivation  and  experiment  have  made  a 
gain  of  from  one  to  two  months  in  the  producing  of  our 
more  important  garden  vegetables.  An  advantage  not 
enjoyed  by  the  newcomers  is  the  possibility  of  getting 
good  and  reliable  seed.  In  the  old  time  seeds  must  be 
saved  from  year  to  year,  and  new  varieties  and  fresh 
seeds  were  hard  to  get.  The  garden  usually  afforded 
a  space  for  a  display  of  flowers.  The  kinds  were  nqt 
numerous,  but,  though  old  fashioned  and  of  unpretend- 
ing titles,  were  beautiful  and  sweet.  It  seems  that  the 
chief  improvement  that  has  been  made  has  been  in  the 
matter  of  names.  The  beauties  which  used  to  gladden 
our  eyes  did  not  rejoice  in  the  high-sounding  titles  of 
the  modern  flower  aristocracy.  We  had  no  Dicentra 
Spectabilis,  no  Gladiollus,  Gilia  Coronopifolia,  Passi- 
flora  Caerulea,  Fuchsia  Microphylla,  Albizzia  Julibris- 
sin.  No  one  can  deny  that  there  must  be  an  incalculable 
amount  of  beauty,  delicacy,  rarity  and  agony  which 
demand  such  extraordinary  verbal  exponents,  but,  as 
in  many  other  things,  it  sometimes  happens  that  the 
magnificence  of  the  name  is  more  easily  seen  than  of 
the  thing  named.  We  are  sometimes  pervaded  with  a 


48  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

sense  of  the  ridiculous  when  we  notice  some  poor,  little, 
misshapen  "body  addressed  as  your  Majesty,  or  some 
short,  dumpy,  Esquimau-legged  specimen  dubbed  your 
Highness.  But  however  incongruous  the  thing  must  be 
done,  and  lie  is  but  an  uncharitable  boor  who  refuses  to 
see  the  qualities  suggested  by  these  grandiloquent  and 
appropriate  titles.  It  is  not  unusual  to  see  sensible 
people,  neglecting  the  learned,  the  beautiful  and  the 
truly  great,  gathering  about  some  scion  of  effete  aris- 
tocracy, bowing  and  scraping,  and  pretending  to  admire  ; 
nor  is  it  unusual  in  these  days  to  see  sensible  young 
men  and  women,  oblivious  to  roses  and  pinks,  bestow- 
ing care  and  praise  upon  some  pompously  named  little 
weed  which  has  neither  grace,  elegance  nor  perfume  ; 
and  is  only  recommended  by  its  name  and  rarity.  In 
the  good  old  days  there  were  pinks,  and  roses,  and  hol- 
lyhocks, and  touch-me-nots,  and  violets,  and  lilies,  and 
thb  broad  prairies  were  a  vast  flower  garden  themselves. 
The  chief  house-plants  were  such  as  are  sometimes 
seen  in  old  fashioned  families  nowadays,  and  are  likely 
to  become  of  some  consideration  because  of  their  rarity, 
although  not  usually  exotic  ;  namely,  children.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark  that  some  of  the  most  troublesome 
pests  with  which  the  farmer  has  to  contend,  were  orig- 
inally introduced  as  rare  plants  and  choice  flowers  by 
romantic  and  sentimental  cultivators. 

The  weeds  during  the  first  few  years  of  the  country 
did  not  offer  much  hinderance  to  cultivation.  The  soil 
was  free  from  noxious  seeds,  and  the  farmer  could  tend  ^ 
with  his  single  plow,  forty  or  fifty  acres  of  corn  ;  and  it 
seems  that  the  improvement  in  cultivators  has  not  been 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  49 

more  than  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  increasing 
crops  of  weeds.  New  sorts  are  constantly  met  with,  and 
many  a  farmer  is  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  he  has 
been  trying  to  cultivate  too  much  ground,  until  his  land 
is  foul  with  all  manner  of  villainous  growth.  Fewer 
acres  to  the  hand  and  more  thorough  and  repeated  at- 
tacks seems  to  be  the  only  remedy. 

We  have  seen  that  fifty  years  have  made  a  marvelous 
change  in  nearly  everything  pertaining  to  agriculture  in 
Woodford  County.  Some  of  these  changes  have  been 
for  the  better,  some  for  the  worse,  but  that  the  direction 
has  been  such  that  we  may  call  the  whole  movement  a 
progress  cannot  be  denied.  We  may  safely  say  there 
has  been  a  great  and  gratifying  improvement.  In  com- 
fort and  independence,  in  security  of  person  and  prop- 
erty, in  social  and  political  importance,  in  moral  worth 
and  respectability  and  downright  enjoyment  of  the  best 
gifts  of  Nature,  there  is  probably  no  people  in  the 
world  which  surpasses  the  farmers  of  Woodford  County. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MANUFACTURES,  TRADE,  ETC. 

'Woodfurd  County  has  not  made  the  same  progress  in 
manufactures  as  in  other  branches  of  industry.  About 
fifty  years  ago  mills  for  the  preparation  of  flour  and 
meal  began  to  be  thought  of,  but  most  of  the  necessary 
articles  were  made  at  home.  Indian  corn  was  pounded 
in  a  mortar  dug  out  of  a  stump  or  trunk  of  a  tree.  This 
was  a  slow  arid  laborious  process.  In  a  few  years  horse 
mills  were  established,  by  means  of  which  wheat  was 
ground.  The  flour  was  sifted  and  bolted  by  hand. 
Gradually  improved  machinery  and  methods  have  been 
introduced,  until  grades  of  flour  are  produced  equal  to 
those  anywhere  in  the  world.  This  bracnh  of  business 
has  suffered  much  in  the  last  ten  years  because  of  the 
almost  constant  failure  of  the  wheat  crop  in  Central 
Illinois. 

Iron  manufacture  lias  never  flourished  to  any  extent 
among  us.  Blacksmiths'  shops  were  early  needed  for 
the  repairing  of  vehicles,  shoeing  of  horses,  making  of 
hails  and  supplying  other  needed  aiticles,  bat  beyond 
something  of  this  sort  little  has  been  done  to  the  pres- 
ent time.'  We  have  had  our  boot  and  shoe  makers  from 
the  beginning,  and  good  mechanics  of  this  class  are  to 
be  found  in  all  of  our  towns,  but  there  is  nothing  in  the 
•shape  of  a  manufactory  of  this  sort  in  our  county.  In 


HISTOKY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  51 

the  making  of  wagons  and  carriages  we  have  a  little 
better  showing,  and  in  several  places  considerable  cap- 
ital and  skill  are  at  present  employed.  As  we  have 
seen,  the  manufacture  of  fabrics  was  at  one  time  an  ex- 
tensive domestic  industry,  but  it  seems  never  to  have 
got  beyond  the  limits  of  home.  We  have  no  establish- 
ment for  the  manufacture  of  cloths,  and  perhaps  the 
nearest  approach  to  it  are  the  semi-domestic  factories  of 
traditional  rag  carpet. 

Without  being  more  specific  in  details,  we  may  state 
briefly  some  of  the  causes  which  have  hindered  the  growth 
of  the  county  in  the  above  respect.  In  the  first  place  la- 
bor and  capital  have  found  ready  employment  in  agricul- 
ture and  trade,  which  have  seemed  to  offer  surer  and 
speedier  returns.  In  time  past  factories  have  seemed  to 
flourish  best  where  agriculture  flourished  least,  and  the 
energy  of  the  people  turned  into  the  channel  of  manu- 
facturing only  when  denied  any  other.  This  fact  often 
separated  the  factory  and  the  product  upon  which  it  op- 
erated by  wide  distances.  It  put  the  cotton  mills  in 
Massachusetts  and  England,  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
miles  away  from  the  staple  upon  which  they  feed.  We 
are  beginning  to  find  that  this  is  putting  asunder  what 
Q-od  has  joined  together.  If  Woodford  County  can 
produce  wool  it  is  but  reasonable  to  suppose  that  she 
can  manufacture  that  wool  into  cloths,  and  make  it 
profitable.  If  we  can  produce  excellent  and  abundant 
bro®m  corn,  we  can  produce  excellent  brooms  in  im- 
mense quantities,  and  it  will  be  wise  for  us  to  look  about 
to  see  if  there  be  not  some  of  these  complementary  in- 
dustries to  which  we  can  turn  our  hands.  Instead  of 

USURY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
UR8ANA 


52  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY- 

making  endless  failures  in  spring  wheat  it  would  be 
better  to  raise  flax,  and  then  operate  factories  that  would 
utilize  both  the  fiber  and  the  seed.  That  our  county  is 
well  adapted  to  agriculture  will  probably  be  seen  to  be 
the  very  reason  why  it  is  well  adapted  to  certain  sorts 
of  manufacture;  but  curiously  enough  these  are  the 
very  sorts  that  have  received  least  attention. 

Another  reason  assigned  for  our  slow  progress  in 
manufactures  is  the  scarcity  of  fuel,  but  immense  coal 
deposits  have  recently  been  developed  upon  two  sides 
of  us,  and  the  very  best  bituminous  coal  can  be  had  by 
deep  mining,  at  any  point  in  our  territory.  Besides 
there  is  much  difference  in  the  amount  of  fuel  required 
to  carry  on  the  different  sorts  of  factories,  and  those 
manufactures  of  which  we  produce  the  raw  material  in 
greatest  abundance  require  comparatively  little  fuel. 

The  first  settlers  had  but  little  money  of  any  sort, 
and  but  little  chance  of  getting  more.  It  used  to  be 
that  letters  were  paid  for  at  the  place  of  delivery,  and 
sometimes,  if  the  letters  came  far,  the  sum  would  amount 
to  twenty-five  cents  in  silver.  I  have  been  told  by  those 
who  know,  that  a  settler  would  often  be  compelled  to 
wait  fiom  a  week  to  a  month  before  he  could  scrape 
up  enough  money  to  get  his  mail.  This  sounds  like  ex- 
travagant talk,  but  there  is  che  best  of  reason  for  be- 
lieving that  many  among  us,  who  are  now  wealthy 
farmers,  were  often  put  to  such  straits  as  these.  At  first 
whatever  was  raised  in  the  way  of  grain,  over  and  above 
the  needs  of  the  family  and  the  new  immigrants,  was 
permitted  to  waste,  there  being  no  market.  Pretty  soon, 
however,  a  market  for  grain  and  stock  was  established 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY".  53 

at  Fort  Clark  (Peoria),  and  then  at  Spring  Bay.  Pork 
would  sell  from  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  to  a  dollar  and 
a  half  per  hundred  weight  dressed,  wheat  about  three 
bits  a  bushel,  and  corn  for  almost  nothing.  They  were 
usually  paid  for  in  high  priced  goods  and  paper  money. 
This  money  was  of  the  most  doubtful  character,  and 
the  settler  never  knew  whether  it  would  be  worth  any- 
thing when  he  wanted  to  use  it.  The  hardy  pioneers  of 
our  civilization  did  not  sit  down  and  whine  over  these 
hardships,  but  were  wide  awake  and  took  every  advan- 
tage of  circumstane.es.  If  they  could  do  a  little  better 
at  Pekin,  some  one  would  be  sure  to  find  it  out  and  tell 
his  neighbors,  and  if  the  market  should  drop  there  they 
would  go  to  Peoria,  or  even  away  off  to  Chicago  Many 
a  load  of  grain  has  been  hauled  the  latter  distance  from 
our  county,  and  hogs  have  been  driven  to  the  same 
market,  in  the  rigors  of  winter.  The  distance  which 
produce  had  to  be  hauled,  and  the  lack  of  information 
with  respect  to  the  markets,  left  little  room  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  discretion  and  foresight  in  the  disposal  of  a 
crop.  The  farmer  would  hear  that  a  good  price  was 
being  paid  for  wheat  in  Peoria,  or  Spring  Bay,  and 
would  quickly  clean  up  a  load  and  put  for  market. 
Bat  he  was  often  too  late,  and  the  market  had  broken 
down.  I  was  told  by  an  old  settler  that  once,  in  a  very 
dull  time,  he  took  a  load  of  wheat  to  Pekin.  To  his 
surprise  arid  delight  he  received  fifty  cents  a  bushel, 
and  that  too,  in  bright  silver.  With  great  joy  he  re- 
turned home  and  hastily  prepared  another  load  to  be 
taken  next  day,  meanwhile  sending  the  good  news  to 
his  neighbors.  The  news  spread  rapidly,  and  the  next 
G 


54  HISTOEY  OF  WOODFOKD  COUNTY. 

morning  our  settler  put  out  with  bis  load  for  Pekiu. 
But  imagine  his  chagrin  when  he  discovered  that  the 
market  had  fallen  nearly  one  half,  and  the  only  money 
being  paid  out  was  the  doubtfullest  sort  of  "shinplasters." 
He  was  compelled  to  dispose  of  his  wheat  thus,  and  in 
different  mood  from  the  day  before,  wended  his  way  home 
as  the  evening  shadows  gathered  about  him.  But  all 
this  time  the  news  had  been  traveling,  and  he  met  teams 
from  away  east  of  Panther  Creek,  hurrying  wheat  to 
Pekin  to  ,uvt  the  silver  half  dollar  per  bushel.  It  seems 
that  some  of  the  early  graft  n  buyers  in  certain  "  ways  " 
and  "tricks"  resembled  the  "heathen  Chinee,"  very 
closely. 

By  and  by  things  began  to  improve.  By  1830  steam- 
boats began  to  ascend  the  Illinois  river,  and  take  pro- 
duce from  Pekin,  Peoria  and  Spring  Bay,  to  St.  Louis 
and  New  Orleans,  In  1840  Munn  &  Scott  established 
themselves  in  Spring  Bay  as  grain  buyers  and  general 
merchants,  and  trade  was  divided  between  Chicago  and 
the  points  below.  The  opening  of  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal  was  a  great  step  for  the  commerce  of 
Wooford  County,  and  when  the  Central  Railroad  was 
completed  in  1852  we  began  to  feel  assured  of  our  fu- 
ture. Since  that  time  new  roads  have  been  built,  and 
markets  and  places  of  trade  have  been  established 
within  easy  reach  in  all  parts  of  the  county.  Unforeseen 
circumstances  have  brought  our  pioneers,  who  used  to 
wonder  what  disposition  they  could  ever  make  of  the 
products  of  their  rich  soil,  to  the  verj^  door  of  the  great- 
est grain  and  stock  market  upon  the  globe. 

These  changes  have  not  only  brought  markets  to  ou 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  55 

door,  but  with  them  have  brought  accurate  daily  infor- 
mation of  markets  all  over  the  country.  A  settler  on 
the  prairie  in  Roanoke  township  to-day,  can  know  more 
of  the  markets  in  New  York  and  Liverpool  yesterday, 
than  he  could  h'ave  known  forty  years  ago  of  the  mar- 
kets of  Peoria  and  Spring  Bay  the  day  before.  Postal 
privileges,  which  were  formerly  scarce  and  costly,  are 
now  enjoyed  to  the  fall  and  at  but  little  cost.  Our  first 
settlers  had  to  get  their  mail  from  Peoria  and  Mackin- 
awtown,  and  these  places  were  far  away  from  many  of 
them.  After  a  time  post  offices  were  established  at 
Washington.  Metamora,  &c.,  and  the  settlers  felt  that 
with  a  post  office  within  ten  miles  and  mail  every  week 
things  were  getting  handy.  If  we  could  drop  our  daily 
mails  and  daily  newspapers  and  go  back  thirty  years 
we  should  have  a  better  realization  of  the  disadvan- 
tages with  which  our  fathers  and  mothers  had  to  con- 
tend, if  we  should  be  compelled  to  give  up  no  other  con- 
veniences than  these. 

Goods  began  to  be  sold  at  Spring  Bay,  Metamora, 
Versailles  and  Bowling  Green,  and  for  many  years 
these  were  places  of  considerable  trade.  Not  many  fine 
goods  were  brought,  and  such  as  were  for  common  use 
were  sold  at  high  prices.  It  sometimes  happens  that  a 
bushel  of  wheat  will  buy  a  calico  dress,  but  in  the  olden 
time  a  bushel  of  wheat  would  often  fail  to  pay  for  a 
single  yard.  ,Ten  bushels  of  corn  would  often  be 
thought  a  good  price  for  a  pair  of  boots,  but'  our 
early  settlers  often  saw  the  time  when  a  team  couldn't 
carry  .enough  corn  to  market  to  secure  one  pair  of  sto- 
gas.  There  has  been  great  improvement,  not  only  in 


56  HISTOEY  OF  WOODFOKD  COUNTY. 

prices,  but  in  the  quality  and  variety  of  commodities 
sold,  and  in  the  matter  of  general  merchandise  it  seems 
that  an  unrestrained  competition  has  had  its  full  and 
legitimate  effect.  It  is  probable,  as  hinted  above,  that 
this  business  has  been  overdone  in  this  county.  There 
are  too  many  merchants  and  clerks  and  not  enough 
manufacturers  and  working  men,  and  it  seems  that  there 
is  a  substantial  reward  awaiting  the  prudent  investment 
of  capital  in  suitable  industries.  With  all  her  resources 
developed,  and  all  her  energies  wisely  directed,  Wood- 
ford  County  will  be  the  home  of  an  intelligent,  healthy 
and  happy  people. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


POLITICS,  LAW  AND  MEDICINE. 

The  citizens  of  Woodford  County  have  always  taken 
much  interest  in  politics,  and  political  gatherings  and 
speech-making  have  been  customary  for  many  years. 
Up  to  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party  in  1856  the 
two  prominent  parties  were  Whig  and  Democrat,  but 
the  Democrats  were  in  considerable  majority.  There 
were  a  few  citizens,  living  chiefly  above  Metamora,  who 
possessed  an  intense  hatred  to  southern  slavery,  and  did 
not  respect  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  Investigation 
before  the  grand  jury  showed,  that  in  all  probability, 
there  existed  in  this  vicinity  one  of  what  were  called 
"  the  stations  of  the  underground  railroad "  These 
were  nothing  more  nor  less  than  hiding  places  for  fugi- 
tive slaves  who  were  trying  to  make  their  way  to  Can- 
ada. The  stations  would  be  at  convenient  distances, 
such  as  could  be  driven  or  walked  in  a  night,  and  the 
fugitives  would  travel  in  the  darkness,  and  tind  con- 
cealment, shelter  and  provisions  during  the  day  at  the 
hands  of  people  who  thought  they  were  doing  right  in 
thus  defeating  a  cruel  and  unjust  law.  It  seems  that 
there  was  a  station  in  Tazewell  county,  one  in  Woodford 
and  one  in  Bureau  county,  connecting  with  others 
north  and  south,  forming  a  continuous  line  from  the 
slave  states  to  Canada.  There  existed  many  such  lines 


58  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

as  these  running  through  the  northern  states,  and  many  a 
poor  negro  followed  them  to  liberty.  The  existence  of  this 
station  soon  became  known  to  the  citizens  of  the  county, 
but  many  did  not  seem  to  wish  to  interfere,  and  had 
little  inclination  to  wrest  the  captive  from  the  hands  of 
his  helpers  and  send  him  back  to  slavery.  Some,  how- 
ever, regarded  them  as  law-breakers,  and  much  preju- 
dice was  stirred  up,  and  at  times  excitement  ran  very 
high.  I  believe,  however,  that  little  or  no  violence  was 
ever  resorted  to  in  Woodford  County  on  this  account. 

Since  1856  the  two  prominent  parties  have  been  the 
Democratic  and  Republican.  The  Democrats  have  al- 
ways been  in  the  majority,  and  have  usually  controlled 
the  county  offices.  When  the  rebellion  broke  out  in 
1861,  with  but  few  exceptions,  political  questions  were 
made  of  secondary  importance,  and  our  county  was 
among  the  first  to  furnish  troops  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Union.  From  the  best  information  it  seems  that, 
first  and  last,  we  furnished  about  fifteen  hundred  sol- 
diers to  the  Union  armies,  being  fully  one- tenth  of  the 
entire  population.  There  was  little  or  no  public  dis- 
turbance among  the  people  during  the  war,  and  I  think 
it  may  be  truthfully  said  that  Woodford  County  bore 
her  full  share  of  the  terrible  burden  with  patience  and 
cheerfulness. 

During  political  campaigns  immense  open  air  meet- 
ings have  been  customary  in  our  county,  and  our  citi- 
zens are  familiar  with  the  oratory  of  Lincoln  and  Doug- 
las, and  Trumbull,  and  Allen,  and  Yates,  and  Dickey, 
and  Ingersoll,  and  scores  of  others  prominent  in  the 
political  world. 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFOBD  COUNTY.  59 

About  twenty  years  ago  the  American  party  had  or- 
ganization and  a  jrood  many  adherents  in  many  parts  of 
the  county,  but  I  believe  it  does  not  exist  as  a  separate 
organization  at  present ;  although  there  are  those  who 
still  advocate  the  principles  and  doctrines  which  it  then 
advocated.  Prohibition  has  figured  to  some  extent  of  late 
years  as  a  political  issue  in  the  county  but  has  never 
succeeded  in  controlling  elections  to  any  extent.  The 
Temperance  party  in  1869  seemed  to  possess  more  vigor 
and  shape  politically  than  since,  not,  perhaps,  because 
our  citizens  are  indifferent  as  regards  the  matter,  but 
because  the  prominent  political  organizations  have  not 
been  willing  to  regard  temperance  as  a  legitimate  polit- 
ical issue.  There  was  as  early  as  1851,  at  Metamora,  a 
society  known  as  ''Division  33,  Sons  of  Temperance,  of 
the  State  of  Illinois,"  with  printed  Constitution  and  By- 
laws and  Rules  of  Order.  About  1856  a  large  public 
meeting  was  held  in  the  Christian  church  in  Walnut 
Grove  and  strong  resolutions  against  the  liquor  traffic 
were  prepared  and  generally  si'gned. 

The  Democrats  and  Republicans  have  been  repre- 
sented for  a  number  of  years  by  party  newspapers,  the 
Democraticjocated  at  Metamora,  "The  Woodford  Senti- 
nel? and  the  Republican, 'the  "  Journal?  at  El  Paso. 
In  1854  there  was  put  forth,  by  C.  McKinzie,  a  pros- 
pectus for  the  "Woodford  County  Times?  to  be  devoted 
to  news  and  politics.  It  was  to  be  Democratic.  I  be- 
lieve this  was  the  beginning  of  newspaper  enterprises 
among  us.  Metamora  long  enjoyed  the  preeminence 
of  being  the  only  place  of  publication  in  the  county. 
In  the  year  1865  the^'ElPaso  Journal"  was  commenced, 


60  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

and  in  the  year  1867 tho  "Eureka  Journal"  The  news- 
papers of  the  county  at  present  are  the  "Sentinel"  Met- 
amora ;  the  "Journal"  El  Paso ;  the  "Journal" 
Eureka,  and  the  "Times"  Minonk. 

The  early  administration  of  justice,  of  course,  partook 
somewhac  of  the  irregularities  and  peculiarities  charac- 
teristic of  this  art  in  all  new  countries  Justice  is  a 
goddess  who  possesses  wonderful  powers  of  adaptation 
to  circumstances,  and  makes  her  abode  with  the  rude 
backwoodsmen  as  contentedly  as  with  the  learned  and 
wealthy.  Among  our  fathers  the  best  facilities  for  pun- 
ishing crime  were  not  always  afforded,  and  sometimes 
it  happened. in  new  countries  that  the  friends  of  law  and 
order  are  in  the  minority.  It  so  happened  in  some  por- 
tions of  Illinois.  Probably  the  most  impudent  defiers 
of  the  law,  and  thost?  who  most  provoked  the  wrath  of 
the  settlers,  were  horse  thieves.  These  fellows  occa- 
sionally coupled  with  their  regular  vocation,  by  way  of 
variety,  burglary  and  highway  robbery.  There  existed, 
no  doubt,  throughout  the  west  a  numerous  and  organ- 
ized band  of  these  desperate  villains  They  seem  fo 
have  got  the  start  of  the  law,  and  sometimes  secured 
the  election  of  members  of  the  gang  to  local  offices.  To 
counteract  these  dangers  the  early  settlers  united  in  an 
organization  known  as  the  "  Regulators."  These  often 
made  short  and  unceremonious  work  of  horse  thieves 
and  robbers.  Our  county  suffered  considerably  from 
these  depredators,  but  our  citizens  never  found  the  op- 
position to  law  strong  enough  to  resort  to  lynch  law. 

Among  the  early  settlers  legal  knowledge  and  advice 
was  not  always  attainable,  but  the  juctices  and  officers 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  61 

were   usually  men  of    great  practical  sense,  and  un- 
doubted integrity.     Their  methods  of  getting  at  truth 
and  fairness  were  sometimes  excentric  and  original,  but 
it  is  probable  that  equal  and  exact  justice  was  done  as 
often  as  by  our  present  more  refined,  technical  and  in- 
volved processes.     Lawyers  were  scarce,  and  suits  were 
sometimes  disposed  of  in  a  way  which  might  provoke 
a  professional  smile,  but  somehow  it  all  averaged  well, 
and  the  majesty  of  the  law  was  vindicated  and  main- 
tained.    Even  after  the  organization  of  the  county,  and 
the  circuit  court  brought  in  such  men  as  Lincoln,  S.  T. 
Logan  and  Davis,  there  was  a  free  and  easy  way  about 
courts   and  lawyers  which  would  be   refreshing  if  it 
could  be  revived  at  present.     While  Judge  Treat  was 
presiding   at  Versailles  he  would  frequently  summon 
the   lawyers   from  their  contests  with  the  settlers    in 
jumping  and  horse-shoe  pitching  to  attend  to  their  busi- 
ness indoors.     The  officer  would  sometimes  find  Lin- 
coln at  these  sports,  with  coat  off  and  full  of  excitement, 
when  needed  in  court.     In  those  days  the  court  room 
was  the  scene  of  the  utmost  good  humor  and  hilarity. 
Jokes  and  anecdotes  were  current,  and  attending  court, 
in  the  days  of   my  boyhood,  was  better  than  a  circus. 
The  same  spirit  has  not  always  characterized  our  legal 
proceedings,  arid  I  have  witnessed  in  cur  county  some 
disgusting    and    humiliating    spectacles    of    bullying, 
brow-beating  and  abuse.     It  is  believed,  however,  that 
this  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  that  our  bar  is  at  pres- 
ent characterized  by  a  higher  tone.      Without  attempt- 
ing to  blame  any  one  in  particular,  it  is  well  for  the 
fraternity  to  see  to   it   that  coarseness  and  profanity 
H 


62  HISTOBY  OF  WOODFOKD  COUNTY. 

shall   never  again   become   so  prevalent  as  formerly. 

For  a  long  time  after  the  removal  of  the  county  seat 
nearly  the  whole  bar  resided  at  Metamora,  but  lawyers 
are  found  at  present  in  all  parts  of  the  county.  The 
first  licensed  attorney  was  John  B.  Holland,  who  went 
to  California  in  1849,  and  died  there.  Prominent  among 
those  who  have  first  and  last  expounded  the  law  in  our 
midst,  and  taught  our  people  the  eternal  principles  of 
justice,  are  S.  P.  Shope,  Welcome  P.  Brown,  C.  H.  Chitty, 
John  Clark,  R.  T.  Cassell.  A.  E.  Stevenson,  Briggs  and 
Meek,  E.  D.  Davidson,  Harper  and  Cassell  and  a  lot  of 
younger  men  whose  names  will  probably  figure  in  his- 
tory by  and  by. 

But  it  is  time  now  that  we  should  turn  our  attention  to 
another  important  class  of  men,  the  need  of  which  is 
felt  in  all  communities',  whether  barbarous  or  civilized — 
the  medical  fraternity.  Communities  feel  the  need  of 
and  appreciate  the  doctor  long-  before  the  lawyer,  the 
pedagogue  or  even  the  preacher.  Among  rude  people 
the  "Medicine  Man"  shares  the  honor  with  the  Chief, 
and  the  dignity  and  authority  of  both  offices  are  often 
blended  in  the  same  individual;  while  among  civilized 
and  polished  communities  there  is  no  more  useful  or 
respected  man  than  the  competent  and  conscientious 
physician. 

The  prevalent  diseases  among  the  early  settlers  were 
remittent,  or  intermittent,  fevers  in  the  late  summer  and 
fall,  and  pneumonia  in  the  winter.  Against  the  first 
there  seemed  to  be  no  adequate  means  of  defense.  The 
immense  quantity  of  vegetation  exposed  to  the  heat 
and  moisture  as  the  summer  advanced  produced  miasma 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  63 

in  such  quantities  that  no  locality  escaped.  It  would 
sometime  happen  that  not  a  single  family  in  a  settle- 
ment would  be  free  from  malarial  affections,  and  often 
whole  families  would  be  stricken  down  with  ague,  and 
no  one  able  to  care  for  the  others.  In  this  condition 
they  would  be  cared  for  by  the  neighbors,  and  many 
acts  of  kindness  and  self-sacrifice  thus  called  out  are 
remembered  by  the  old  settlers  with  lively  pleasure. 
If  the  present  generation  has  wherein  to  boast  over  the 
last,  it  is  not  in  the  matter  of  hospitality  or  good  Sa- 
maritanism. 

At  first  the  settlers  were  compelled  to  depend  upon 
their  own  knowledge  and  resources  in  combatting  dis- 
ease. Now  and  then  a  man  would  couple  with  his 
farming  the  healing  art,  and  some  of  these,  by  observa- 
tion and  experience,  acquired  a  considerable  degree  of 
skill,  and  were  usually  regarded  as  oracles  by  the 
neighbors.  Sometimes  this  office  would  be  assumed  by 
some  old  lady,  who,  combining  a  little  experience,  good 
sense  and  superstition  with  a  deal  of  good  nursing  and 
encouragement,  often  succeeded  marvelously.  Inas- 
much as  these  practitioners  usually  gave  their  services 
for  nothing,  and  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  people, 
the  early  physicians  found  it  difficult  to  get  a  foothold. 
There  was  another  fact,  however,  which  made  it  hard 
for  the  first  regular  practitioners.  The  people  of  the 
county  had  largely  imbibed  the  doctrine  of  Dr.  Samuel 
Thomson,  and  they  looked  with  much  suspicion  and 
prejudice  upon  these  u  Old  School "  or  "  Calomel "  doc- 
tors. Dr.  Thomson  taught  that  since  minerals  were  de- 
rived from  the  depths  of  the  earth,  their  use  would  drag 


64  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

the  patient  down  into  the  grave ;  but  that  vegetable 
medicines  would  raise  the  body  up,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the 
nature  of  vegetables  to  spring  up  from  the  ground.  Dis- 
ease was  attacked  by  means  of  such  weapons  as  lobelia' 
cayenne  pepper,  ceffee,  number-six,  steaming  and  sweat- 
ing. Those  fellows  who  gave  calomel  and  let  blood  and 
drew  blisters  were  regarded  with  some  distrust  if  not 
aversion. 

It  was,  perhaps,  as  well  when  each  family  had  to  keep 
its  own  medicines  and  often  to  administer  them  by  guess, 
that  the  nostrums  were  of  such  character,  instead  of 
more  potent  drugs,  which  might  have  done  infinitely 
more  harm.  But  so  deeply  do  prejudices  relative  to  the 
healing  art  take  hold  of  people  that  they  are  with 
difficulty  overcome.  I  think  some  of  the  old  settlers 
would  almost  as  soon  have  died  according  to  Thomsoni- 
anism  as  to  have  recovered  under  the  ministration  of 
calomel,  etc.  Things  are  changed  now,  and  lobelia  no 
longer  claims  authority  to  set  up  its  rule  in  every 
disordered  stomach,  arid  will  no  longer  cure  all  mala- 
dies. But  to  return  to  the  doctors. 

The  first  regular  physician  among  us  was  Dr.  Hazzard, 
who  settled  near  Germantown  in  1836.  After  eleven 
years  of  usefulness  he  was  thrown  from  his  buggy  and 
killed.  Dr.  Wm.  C.  Anthony,  another  regularly  edu- 
cated physician,  located  at  Bowling  Green  in  1837,  but 
left  soon  after  the  county  was  organized.  "  Medicine 
men  "  of  this  sort  did  not  accumulate  very  rapidly,  and 
the  next  one  did  not  put  in  an  appearance  until  1846. 
At  that  date  Dr.  J.  S.  Whitmire,  then  a  young  man, 
took  up  his  abode  at  Metamora,  and  for  more  than  thirty 


HISTOEY  OF  WOODFOKD  COUNTY.  65 

years  has  waged  a  successful  and  unrelenting  warfare 
against  the  diseases  which  beset  our  frail  tabernacles, 
in  all  parts  of  the  county.  A  little  more  than  a  year 
afterward  came  Dr.  R.  B.  M.  Wilson,  but  he  soon  re- 
moved to  Washington,  Tazewell  county,  where  he  has 
since  resided.  Although  not  a  resident  of  our  county 
he,  as  well  as  Dr.  G.  P.  Wood,  was  a  frequent  visitor  at 
the  households  of  our  early  settlers.  Among  those  who 
have  combatted  the  ills  to  which  flesh  is  heir,  may  be 
found  the  name  of  A.  Reynolds,  who  pioneered  the  way 
against  Thomsonianism  about  Bowling  Green,  begin- 
ning his  campaign  in  1848.  Dr.  J.  G  Zeller  was  one  of 
the  first  physicians  in  the  western  part  of  the  county, 
where  he  is  still  in  successful  practice.  There  were 
some  physicians  of  the  eclectic  school  among  us,  some 
years  ago,  who  practiced  with  considerable  success. 
Among  these  were  Richard  Bard,  of  Versailles,  and  Drs. 
Springgate  and  Tandy,  of  Eureka.  The  eclectics  are 
still  represented  by  Dr.  Maloney,  of  Washburn,  and 
Dr,  J..M.  John,  of  Roanoke. 

In  1870  was  organized  the  Woodford  County  Medical 
Society,  which  holds  frequent  sessions  for  the  advance- 
ment of  medical  science,  and  the  discussion  of  questions 
connected  with  tho  profession.  In  this  association  no 
one  is  admitted  to  membership  except  those  who  have 
received  a  diploma  from  some,  medical  institution  au- 
thorized to  confer  degrees.  The  present  membership 
is  as  follows  :  Drs.  Whitmire  and  Kinnear,  Metamora  ; 
Cole  and  Lamme,  El  Paso  ;  Crawford,  Lichtenberger 
and  Rosenberg,  Eureka;  Blanchard,  Minonk ;  Morgan 
and  Wilkinson,  Roanoke ;  Slemmons,  Benson ;  Dar- 


66  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

ling,  Low  Point ;  Garrett,  Newkirk  and  Tweddale, 
Washburn  ;  Dr.  Gill.  Prominent  among  the  fraternity 
is  Dr.  Wilcox,  of  Minonk,  who  has  found  opportunity 
to  engage  to  some  extent  in  politics,  with  success  ;  and 
Dr  Z.  H.  Whitmire,  who  was  for  many  years  in  partner- 
ship with  his  brother,  at  Metamora. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EDUCATIONAL  AND  EELIGIOUS  MATTERS. 

Great  progress  lias  been  made  by  us  in  educational 
matters.  The  first  school  of  which  I  can  find  any  trace 
was  kept  in  a  little  log  hut  near  where  E.  B.  Myers  af- 
terward settled.  It  was  in  the  year  1832.  Not  long 
afterwards  Joshua  Woosley  taught  near  the  head  of  the 
grove.  About  the  same  time,  away  over  in  White  Oak, 
on  the  place  now  owned  by  Winton  Carlock,  old  Abner 
Peeler  began  the  training  of  the  backwoods  youth.  A 
little  later  still,  down  in  the  Uncle  Jimmy  Harlan  neigh- 
borhood, intellectual  culture  was  attempted,  and  this 
time  by  a  lady.  Mary  Ann  Brown  heads  the  list  of 
educators  of  Montgomery  township.  Somewhere  about 
1835  the  settlers  on  Ten  Mile,  in  the  western  part, 
erected  a  school  house,  and  George  Hopkins  undertook 
the  arduous  task  of  instilling  through  eye  and  ear  and 
spine  the  rudiments  of  learning.  This  was  one  of  the 
first  school  houses,  and  lest  our  youngsters  should  get 
a  wrong  notion  of  it  I  will  attempt  a  description  of  the 
primitive  school  house.  It  was  nearly  square  and  built 
of  logs.  For  light  a  log  was  left  out  of  one  side.  The 
opening  was  sometimes  converted  into  a  u  window  "  by 
being  filled  with  greased  paper  for  glass  Again  it 
would  be  filled  by  a  broad  board,  which  being  let 
down  upon  pegs  upon  the  inside,  answered  for  writing 


68  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

desk.  Writing  could  only  "be  attended  to  when  the 
window  was  open,  and  if  it  was  cold  or  windy  there 
must  have  been  some  attendant  inconvenience.  At  one 
end  of  the  room  was  a  fireplace  which  had  a  lively, 
cheeriul  air  in  winter,  when  it  was  put  to  its  best  to  keep 
out  the  cold,  but  had  a  dreary,  vacant  goneness  about 
it  in  summer.  Of  all  the  sad.  fancy-smothering,  regret- 
ful things  an  old-fashioned,  gaping  fireplace,  with  its 
black,  sooty  jambs  and  funereal  ashes  and  idle  dog-irons 
is  the  chief.  Housewives  used  to  fill  them  up  with 
boughs  of  trees  and  asparagus  bushes,  or  something  of 
that  sort,  before  screens  were  thought  of.  But  nobody 
attempted  to  relieve  the  desolation  of  the  school  house 
fireplace.  Like  a  ruin  in  the  wilderness  or  a  carcass 
upon  the  plain  it  was  left  to  its  lonesomeness.  A  stove 
looks  like  something,  even  when  not  in  use,  but  an  un- 
used fireplace  is  a  great  yawning  emptiness.  But  we 
were  talking  about  the  old  time  school  houses.  \The 
benches  consisted  of  a  rough  slab  with  four  rude  pins, 
and  required  no  other  tools  in  their  construction  than 
an  ax  and  big  auger.  Maps,  charts,  globes  and  black- 
boards were  unknown,  and  the  searchers  .after  knowl- 
edge had  few  helps  in  their  tasks  ;  nor  even  many  com- 
forts. If  one  of  our  modern  teachers  should  be  thrust 
into  such  surroundings  with  his  work  he  would  be  apt 
to  abandon  the  field  in  utter  defeat.  And  yet  the  pio- 
neers in  education  wrought  patientjy  and  successfully 
through  all  these  disadvantages  and  laid  well  the  foun- 
dation of  learning  and  intelligence  in  our  midst. 

The  first  school  about  Spring  Bay  was  kept  in  the 
house  of  Benjamin  Williams,  by  a  man  named  Ellmore, 


PISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNT  Y. 


and  the  first  school  in  Partridge  was  taught  by  Mary 
Curry;  A  sort  of  itinerant  school  was  taught  at  Low 
Point,  in  1837,  by  Miss  Love  Morse.  It  was  kept  one 
week  at  the  house  of  James  Owen  and  the  next 
at  the  house  of  Parker  Mofse.  Miss  Morse  kept  a 
schedule  of  attendance  at  the  school,  and  the  expenses 
wi-re  paid  out  of  the  state  treasury,  according  to  the 
record.  This  was  probably  the  tirst  free  school  ever 
taught  in  northern  Illinois. 

There  were  many  trials  and  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
the  early  pedagogue  which  the  modern  one  does  not  en- 
counter. One  of  these  was  the  necessity  of  boarding 
around.  Hash  was  more  abundant  than  money,  and 
when  the  settler  subscribed  for  a  scholar,  scholar  and  a 
half,  or  two  scholars,  or  any  other  number,  he  stipu- 
lated to  pay  part  of  the  price  by  boarding  the  "ma'am" 
or  "master."  By  a  curious  law  this  would  throw  the 
.teacher  most  of  the  time  into  the  most  unpleasant  quar- 
ters. If  a  family  was  lar»e,  the  same  cause  which 
would  furnish  many  pupils  and  require  the  pedagogue 
to  board  longer  with  the  family  would  also  leave  little 
room  for  his  accommodation.  By  this  plan,  however, 
the  teacher  became  familiar  with  all  sorts  of  people, 
accommodations,  fare,  houses  and  all  degrees  of  clean- 
liness, and  what  he  lost  in  comfort  and  convenience  he 
gathered  up  in  experience.  He  had  good  opportunity 
to  acquire  that  facility  of  adaptation  to  circumstan- 
ces —  the  becoming  all  things  to  all  men  —  which  contrib- 
ute so  largely  to  success  in  any  calling  ;  and  the  chances 
to  study  all  species  of  the  genus  homo  in  their  native 
haunts  was  most  excellent.  Another  trial  was  the  in- 
i 


70  HISTOKY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

subordination  of  the  pupils.  Muscle  was  a  thing  much 
relied  on  in  those  early  days,  and  the  successful  teacher 
must  be  able  to  thrash  the  biggest  boy  in  school,  or  his 
authority  was  constantly  in  danger.  Pluck  and  gener- 
alship were  rieces&ary  qualities.  Holidays  were  not 
granted,  as  now,  by  legal  enactment,  nor  upon  formal 
petition,  but  by  forcible  expulsion  of  the  master  from 
the  school  house.  They  were  days  of  time-honored 
mutiny  and  legitimate  rebellion,  which  threatened  to 
extend  to  all  the  other  days  of  the  calendar.  All  honor 
to  the  heroes  who  maintained  their  ground  on  these 
doubtful  battle-fields.  Among  these  honored  ones  of 
the  long  ago  will  be  found  the  names  of  Noel  Meek,  Sr., 
E.  B.  Perrin,  the  wonderful  scribe,  A.  B.  Cram,  Holcomb 
Bobbins  and  many  others ;  but  probably  he  who  has 
battled  longest  and  most  successfully  in  the  cause  of 
education  in  Woodford  County  is  A.  S.  Fisher,  who  has 
persistently  worked  in  this  field  for  nearly  thirty  years. 
When  we  turn  from  the  state  of  affairs  described 
above  to  contemplate  the  present  condition  of  educa- 
tional matters  in  our  midst,  it  seems  almost  incredible 
that  all  this  change  should  have  been  wrought  in  a  sin- 
gle generation.  But  so  it  is.  In  almost  every  village 
and  rural  district  we  find  the  neat  and  painted  school 
house,  and  the  trained  teacher,  who  is  beginning  al- 
ready to  regard  his  work  as  a  profession.  He  takes 
some  educational  periodical,  attends  institutes  and  ap- 
preciates the  necessity  of  study  and  experiment  in  him- 
self. Our  large  towns  have  their  graded  schools  and 
tasteful  and  imposing  structures.  Great  credit  is  due 
especially  to  El  Paso  and  Metamora  for  the  excellent 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  71 

buildings  and  facilities  which  they  have  provided  for 
the  public  schools.  We  commend  their  example  to 
other  places.  This  advice  will  not  be  received,  of 
course,  by  those  who  regard  the  money,  paid  in  school 
taxes,  almost  thrown  away;  but  will  not  be  lost  upon 
that  better  class  who  think  mental  training  one  of  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  cheap  at  whatever  cost  of  mere 
dollars.  Although  so  much  has  been  done  in  the  last 
generation  in  the  way  of  public  education,  we  have  not 
yet  arrived  at  the  quitting  place,  and  there  is  room  for 
as  much  to  be  done  in  the  next  generation.  Too  many 
of  our  teachers  still  regard  their  work  as  simply  a  tem- 
porary employment,  and  not  a  profession  to  be  held  fast 
for  life.  Men  cannot  achieve  success  with  this  idea  in 
law,  medicine,  commerce  or  agriculture,  nor  can  they 
in  teaching.  Institutes  should  meet  with  more  encour- 
agement and  awaken  more  interest,  not  specially  on  the 
part  of  the  public  authorities,  but  on  the  part  of  the 
teachers  themselves  and  the  people  generally.  They  are 
not  only  essential  to  the  development  of  the  best  ideas 
and  methods  relative  to  the  work  of  teaching,  but  are 
the  best  promoters  of  that  fellowship  which  the  French 
call  esprit  de  corps,  so  necessary  to  the  success  of  any 
army,  whether  of  soldiers,  teachers  or  Christians.  We 
need  public  libraries  and  museums,  not  hidden  away  in 
colleges  and  seminaries  where  they  only  benefit  the  stu- 
dent, but  they  should  be  thrown  in  the  way  of  the 
public  and  maintained  at  public  expense. 

With  respect  to  the  higher  collegiate  education 
Woodford  County  has  no  mean  record,  and  can  boast 
of  as  honest  an  effort  in  this  direction  as  any  county  in 


72  HISTOEY  OF  WOODFOKD  COUNTY. 

the  state.  Much  remains  to  Ibe  done,  however,  in  this 
behalf.  Many  persons  not  only  fail  to  sustain  and  en- 
courage the  higher  culture,  but  utterly  fail  to  under- 
stand what  it  is.  There  is  a  cheap  imitation  of  gentility 
in  dress  and  manner  which  passes  for  the  genuine  arti- 
cle among  certain  sorts  of  people,  but  is  ridiculous  and 
disgusting  to  persons  of  real  refinement.  This  counter- 
feit gentility  is  found  as  often  amon^  the  rich  as  the 
poor,  and  is  as  plainly  visible  under  silk  and  broad- 
cloth as  homespun.  In  like  manner  there  is  a  cheap 
imitation  of  higher  education,  or  collegiate  culture.  It 
is  cfieap  because  it  is  secured  at  little  outlay  of  time  or 
labor,  and  is  worth  just  about  as  much  as  it  costs. 
There  is  a  sort  of  shallow  normalism  which  insists 
that  two  or  three  years  are  about  all  that  can  be  profita- 
bly given  to  culture,  in  the  period  of  youth.  There  are 
many  so  called  "normal  schools"  in  the  land  which  pro- 
fess to  do  for  a  young  man,  in  two  or  three  years,  what 
our  colleges  cannot  do  in  less  than  five  or  six.  This  is 
sheer  pretense  and  deception,  and  its  effects  are  being 
seen  in  the  weak  and  shallow  mentality  of  many  of  our 
"educated"  men.  But  Woodford  County  has  done  some- 
thing for  that  patient  and  thorough  development  of  the 
intellectual  and  moral  faculties  which  deserves  the  name 
of  higher  education.  There  are  many  who  recognize 
youth  as  a  period  of  growth  in  intellectual  and  moral 
faculties,  and  that  cultivation  ought. to  correspond  with 
the  whole  period  of  growth.  A  farmer  might  as  well 
attempt  to  cultivate  his  corn  by  working  it  three  days, 
as  the  educator  attempt  to  train  and  cultivate  men  in 
two  or  three  years.  Friends  of  education  ought  to  be- 


HISTORY  OF  TVOODFOKD  COUXTY.  73 

gin  to  understand  that  the  time  of  cultivation  cannot 
be  shortened  without  detriment  to  mental  growth  and 
strength. 

Impressed  with  the  necessity  of  thorough  education 
s<>me  men  about  Walnut  Grove,  under  the" leadership  of 
Ben.  Major,  about  1850,  inaugurated  the  Walnut  Grove 
Seminary,  with  A.  S.  Fisher,  principal,  and  Miss  Susan 
Jones,  assistant.  This  soon  developed  into  the  "  Wal- 
nut Grove  Academy,"  and  in  February,  1855.  secured  a 
charter  from  the  State  legislature  under  the  name  of 
"  Eureka  College,"  with  the  following  Board  of  Trus- 
tees :  Elijah  Dickinson,  Wm.  Davenport,  E.  B.  Myers, 
John  D.irst,  John  Lindsey,  A.  M.  Myers,  John  Major. 
W.  H.  Davenport,  B.  J.  Radford,  David  Deweese,  R. 
M.  Clark,  Wm.  Atteberry,  Wm.  T.  Major,  C.  O.  Nev- 
ille, John  Bennett,  Wm.  M.  Brown,  Jno.  T.  Jones, 
Wm.  S.  Pickerell,  Geo.  McManus,  Bushrod  W.  Henry, 
I.  T  Logan,  P.  C.  Redding,  Henry  Grove  and  Jno.  W. 
Taylor.  This  institution  Las  been  in  constant  and 
successful  operation  ever  since  the  above  date,  and  has 
instructed,  for  shorter  or  longer  periods,  over  three 
thousand  pupils,  more  than  half  ot  whom  have  come 
from  other  counties.  The  college  is  still  flourish- 
ing and  has  a  corps  of  eight  experienced  instructors, 
and  ranks  among  the  first  institutions  of  its  class  in  the 
state. 

Recently  a  movement  was  made  to  establish  an  acad- 
emy at  Low  Point.  Funds  were  secured  and  a  neat  and 
commodious  frame  building  was  erected,  well  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  young  institution.  Prof.  J.  E.  Lamb 
was  appointed  principal,  and  the  academy  soon  got  well 


74  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

under  way,  but  an  unforeseen  calamity  was  in  store  for 
it.  A  few  months  since  the  building  was  burned  to  tho 
ground,  and  by  some  strange  oversight  there  had  been 
no  insurance  provided.  As  soon  as  they  recovered  a 
little  from  the  blow  the  friends  of  the  enterprise  began 
to  think  of  rebuilding,  and  money  was  subscribed,  but 
the  hard  times  make  the  work  drag,  and  the  issue  sterns 
somewhat  doubtful.  The  people  of  Low  Point  cannot 
well  afford  to  let  this  matter  fall  through,  and  outfit  to 
resurrect  the  institution  at  whatever  sacrifice.  A  grand 
stride  will  have  been  taken  by  our  people  in  the  march 
of  civilization  when  they  become  willing  to  expend  as 
much  upon  the  brain  as  the  stomach,  and  come  to  recog- 
nize food  for  the  mind  as  among  the  necessaries  of  life. 
Let  every  citizen  of  Woodford  County  hasten  the  time. 
If  the  people  of  Woodford  are  not,  like  the  ancient 
Athenians,  exceedingly  religious,  they  are  by  no  means 
to  be  reckoned  as  heathens.  The  voice  of  the  preacher 
of  the  gospel  was  heard  in  the  cabins  of  the  early  set- 
tlers, and  in  the  groves  which  were  lately  the  haunts  of 
the  Red  man  and  the  panther.  About  1829  a  Presbyte- 
rian minister  came  to  Walnut  Grove.  He  was  invited 
to  preach  at  a  settler's  cabin,  but  soon  after  the  sermon 
began  two  of  the  boys  got  into  a  fisticuff  pastime.  Ser- 
vices were  interrupted  until  the  disturbances  were  qui- 
eted, when  the  preacher  proceeded.  This  was,  perhaps, 
the  earliest  voice  in  the  wilderness  of  these  parts,  but 
not  many  Presbyterian  ministers  came  this  way  for  a 
long  while,  and  it  was  not  until  1868  that  a  Presbyte- 
rian church  was  organized  at  Eureka.  In  1841  Rev.  W. 
T.  Adams,  now  of  El  Paso,  preached  at  Low  Point  in 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  75 

the  house  of  Mr.  Farnsworih,  but  no  church  was  organ- 
ized here  until  1853.  At  that  time  some  fourteen  mem- 
bers were  gathered  together,  constituted  a  congregation 
and  enjoyed  the  ministry  of  Wm.  P.  Carson.  Wm. 
Dodds  was  first  elder.  The  present  membership  is 
nearly  one  hundred.  There  was  organized  the  next 
year,  1854,  another  church  known  as  United  Presbyte- 
rians, which  is  in  a  prosperous  condition  at  present.  In 
1856  Wm.  Frost  began  to  preach  at  Minonk,  and  the 
next  year  organized  a  Presbyterian  church  at  this  point. 
The  first  organization  of  this  denomination  at  Meta- 
mora  was  in  1858;  and  their  first  minister  was  I.  A. 
Cornelison.  It  began  with  a  small  membership.  Mr. 
Cornelison,  in  1868,  gathered  together  some  twenty-four 
members  at  Eureka  and  organized  them  into  a  church, 
arid  they  soon  secured  the  services  of  Rev.  Samuel  Hart, 
under  whose  care  they  prospered.  They  now  have  an 
elegant  house  of  worship  and  are  thriving  under  the 
ministry  of  Rev.  M.  P.  Orrnsby.  The  Presbyterian 
church  in  El  Paso  was  organized  by  VV.  T.  Adams  in 
1857.  Mr.  Adams  became  the  pastor  iri!864.  The  con- 
gregation is  now  large  and  prosperous. 

Methodism  early  gained  a  firm  foothold  among  the 
settlers  in  Woodford  County.  The  first  church  erected 
on  Ten  Mile  was  Methodist,  and  the  preacher's  name 
was  Laitey.  He  was  followed  by  Uncle  Zedick  Hall, 
the  famous  pioneer  Methodist  preacher.  Father  Hall 
has  been  a  zealous  teacher  of  religion  in  our  county 
and  surrounding  regions  for  more  than  two  score  years, 
and  is  still  vigorous  and  enthusiastic.  He  preached 
throughout  Central  Illinois  in  the  early  day,  encounter- 


76  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

ing  with  much  fortitude  the  dangers  an<J  hardships  in- 
cident to  Ills  work,  and  has  done  as  much,  perhaps,  to 
build  up  righteousness  and  temperance  as  any  man 
among  us.  He  resides  with  his  son  in  Worth  town- 
ship. About  1840  Jeter  Foster. began  preaching  about 
Low  Point  and  soon  built  up  a  Methodist  church  at  that 
place.  They  erected  a  meeting  house  here  in  1851. 
Among  the  early  planters  of  Methodism  in  Walnut 
Grove  was  Uncle  Jimmy  Wells,  and  in  almost  every 
neighborhood  was  to  be  found  the  Methodist  preacher 
arid  exhorter,  so  that  these  people  are  numerous  and 
iound  in  almost  all  parts  of  the  county.  They  have  con^ 
gregaticns  in  all  the  principal  towns  and  neighbor- 
tioods. 

The  Baptists  were  among  the  first  to  proclaim  the 
gospel  among  us.  It  is  said  the  first  sermon  ever 
preached  about  Low  Point  was  by  a  Baptist  named  A, 
M.  Root  at  the  house  of  Isaac  Buckingham.  The  Mis- 
sionary Baptists  built  a  church  here  in  1846  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  S.  Mundell.  But  the  first  Baptist 
church  organized  in  the  county  was  in  die  south-eastern 
part  at  the  house  of  Jas.  Vance.  This  was  done  by  J. 
D.  Newell  in  the  year  1837,  and  the  congregation  con- 
sisted of  about  a  dozen  members,  Soon  afterward,  in 
CazenOVia,  the  old  Klchland  Baptist  church  was  organ- 
ized. The  church  at  Minonk  was  organized  about  18 
years  ago,  and  has  been  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev. 
0.  D,  Merrit  ever  since.  The  Baptists  have  at  present, 
in  the  county,  eleven  organizations  and  about  one  thou- 
sand members,  and  expend  annually  for  church  and  be- 
nevolent purposes  above  ten  thousand  dollars. 


HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY.  77 

The  Christiana  church  was  represented  among  the 
early  settlers  by  a  number  of  preachers  among  whom 
were  John  Oatman,  Abner  Peeler,  Henry  D.  Palmer, 
Jas.  Robeson,  Wm.  Davenport  and  Jas.  Owen.  By  the 
efforts  of  these  men  congregations  of  Disciples  were  es- 
tablished in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  county.  There  are 
at  present  eleven  organizations  with  a  membership  of 
above  twelve  hundred.  Their  two  veteran  preachers  are 
John  T.  Jones,  of  Eureka,  aged  82,  and  James  Robeson, 
of  Secor,  a«ed  80.  Father  Robeson,  familiarly  known 
as  "  Uncle  Jimmy,"  is  still  vigorous  and  preaches  regu- 
larly, having  been  a  prea@her  of  the  gospel  about  sixty 
years.  The  denomination  has  done  much  for  education 
in  the  county,  having  built  and  sustained  Eureka  Col- 
lege ;  although  the  Methodists  and  Presbyterians  of 
Eureka  have  liberally  assisted  them  in  their  commend- 
able work. 

Besides  the  above  denominations  there  are  several 
smaller  religious  organizations  of  somewhat  later  origin. 
There  is  a  prosperous  congregation  of  Tankers,  or  Ger- 
man Baptists,  near  Roanoke,  and  there  are  two  congre- 
gations of  Omish,  or  Amish,  among  us  These  latter 
are  a  portion  of  the  great  Mennonite  denomination.  The 
Catholics  have  also  organized  in  several  parts  of  the 
county,  though  we  have  no  statistics  respecting  them. 

Probably  the  first  Sunday  school  in  this  county  was 
organized  by  Father  Morse,  in  1837,  at  his  house  in 
Low  Point.  Gradually  the  necessity  and  fitness  of  Sun- 
day schools  was  perceived  by  religious  teachers  of  all 
sorts,  and  all  denominations  came  to  regard  them  as  an 
excellent  means  of  religious  training.  In  all  our  towns 


78  HISTORY  OF  WOODFORD  COUNTY. 

and  many  country  churches  good  Sunday  schools  are 
maintained,  and  it  is  probable  that  some  two  thousand 
children  receive  regular  instruction  by  this  means.  A 
fact  which  is  full  of  hope  for  the  Christian  and  philan- 
thropist. 

Neighbor,  here  we  bid  you  good  bye.  We  have  seen 
that  in  the  fifty  years  since  Woodford  County  was  first 
settled  by  white  men,  there  has  been  a  wonderful  im- 
provement in  all  matters  pertaining  to  physical  com- 
fort and  conveniences  ;  to  intellectual  and  social  life,  to 
moral  and  religious  institutions  and  agencies.  We  have 
been  rapidly  catching  up  with,  and  finding  our  place  in, 
the  great  march  of  civilization  in  older  communities, 
but  there  remains  much  for  all  of  us  to  do.  He  is  the 
best  citizen  who  appreciates  most  fully  and  promotes 
most  zealously  the  improvement  of  his  fellow  men  in 
all  respects — physical,  intellectual  and  moral.  Let  us 
quit  ourselves  like  men,  Woodford  County,  desirable 
as  it  may  be,  can  only  be  ours  for  a  little  time,  and  it 
would  be  well  for  us  to  secure  a  claim  where  home- 
steads never  change  hands,  and  there  are  no  graveyards 
on  the  hill  sides. 


